The Elite Bachelor
by SapphireTrafficker
Summary: There's this saying called the past coming back to bite you in the ass. Christian didn't expect himself to be a victim of those attacks. Slow burn. HEA. 4th in the Top Five FSOG Stories Facebook Group October WIP! 3rd in February Complete!
1. It Was Nice To Meet You

_**It Was Nice To Meet You**_

JULY 2012

The bar was, and had always been, the loudest and the most crowded place. At least their one and only female bartender, Anastasia Steele thought it was the place where she witnessed everyone in the city gather all at once. Shaking up the mixed liquids skillfully and absentmindedly, she allowed her eyes roam around the room, she always did that ever since she got familiar with the skills. Every night, in this room, she would be scanning the room full of people while mixing and pouring drinks for clients in all possible ways just to entertain them for a few more bucks in a tip. What she was trying to find wasn't a familiar face, but a decent looking face that she might be able to get some extra dollars from.

"Here you go, mister." She winked at the man in suit, only guessing that he came to the bar to relieve some stress from work. Picking up the glass from the man with blond hair sitting next to him, she poured the rest of the mixture in to the glass and placed it back in front of him.

"Hey, you done?" Her roommate, Kate walked up to her, shouting across the bar for her to hear. Anastasia noticed how the blond had his head snapped toward Kate, his eyes suddenly filled with interest. Anastasia silently raised an eyebrow at the man then turned her attention back to Kate who was somewhat oblivious to all that.

"I still have, let's see…" Anastasia turned back to check the clock behind her, seeing the second hand ticking near twelve, she plastered on a huge smile as she waited for it to hit the number. "Done!" She announced the second the needle disappeared in the other two. "My shift is officially over," she walked around the bar and went to Kate, linking her arms with hers as they cruised down the room.

"Kate, didn't you see him? That blond I last served, he was so into you." Anastasia pulled Kate into the view of the blond man's back, pointing him to her. "His eyes were all over you. Dude, you should really go give him a shot, who knows what you might get." Anastasia encouraged, she knew Kate was the kind to hit and run, when she was the one who wanted a boyfriend but not the hearts and flowers kind. She wasn't a huge romance.

"Whoa," Kate stumbled when the blond turned and caught her eyes, sending her a wink. "Maybe I should," she muttered to herself. Walking to the guy just as the guy gestured her to come over.

Anastasia smiled at herself smugly, watching Kate's retreating figure, swaying her hips as she approached the bar. Anastasia turned around, heading to her usual place after duty with a satisfying expression.

The stage was crowded with people just like any other day, but today, the female strippers and pole dancers seemed to be extra eager to put on a show as if an important visitor was making an appearance tonight. Anastasia chuckled to herself at the thought, if there really was such a man here they so eagerly wanted to impress, maybe she should pull something from her sleeves too. After all, the money she made as a bartender was too little, way below average wage, it was the performance that she pulled out each night that got her the most earning.

Walking up the stage with confident strides, Anastasia quickly took the stage with a snap of her fingers. Her head held high but the DJ knew exactly the song she needed, giving her the beat just as her hand was raised. The timing couldn't be more precise and perfect. She lip synced through the song, winking at people on her way as her body twirled.

_It ain't my fault._

She mouthed. It wasn't long before she was covered with greenbacks as did the stage floor. She was already in her laced panties and bra, meaning it was her turn to show off her beautiful muscles as she got on to the pole. Every spotlight was now on her, and she heard the loudest noise from the crowd that she had ever heard in all her performances.

During her performances, she never looked at any audience in the eye, but tonight she caught a pair, they were from the guy in suit, the one that she had served just before her shift was over, the same guy that she had winked at. His furrowed eyebrows made Anastasia's legs weak, she found it a huge turn on, but she couldn't focus on her moves if she kept her gaze locked with his, so she turned away from the pair of mesmerizing gray eyes.

…

"Did you get a number? A name? A fuck?" Anastasia bugged at Kate immediately as they were out of the back door of the bar and onto the empty street. Even though Anastasia was busy counting all the cash in her hand, she still couldn't let any gossip slide past her.

"Okay, this guy is more than cute, I tell you, girl." Kate couldn't contain her excitement either, she usually wouldn't tell Anastasia willingly until she begged her to, but today, she just needed to spill everything.

"Tell me everything," Anastasia commanded, putting away her money, it was tripled the amount that she had gotten from the bar, with tips. Someone must be generous tonight, she wasn't a professional, full-time female entertainer, it was hard for her to get money, but her body would always do the work.

"So, his name is Elliot," Kate started in a mysterious voice. "He's given me his number the minute I got to him."

"Someone's desperate," Anastasia jested teasingly and let her best friend continue. "Didn't you hook him up? I thought you'd be going home with him and ditching me by now, what are you still doing here?" She joked half seriously, pushing her around as she got a shove back.

"I wouldn't want to ditch you for some jerk head, what kind of friend would that make me?" Kate kidded back.

"Kate, I kicked you out there to hook up not to get a name and a fucking number." Anastasia whined. "It's so unlike you to have your mouth detached from another man's mouth at this hour of the day."

"That's why I'm here to take you home, darling Kate." A male's voice interrupted the girls' conversation, they looked up just in time to see two figures standing in front of them.

The street was empty and lit with dim yellow street lamps, it would be of no help if they screamed bloody murder. The appearance of the two figures ceased the laughters of the two young single ladies.

"Elliot, let me introduce you to my best friend, Ana." Kate recognized the blond instantly, a grin was on her face again. "Ana, Elliot, the guy I'm possibly staying the night with." She turned to her amused yet shocked roommate.

"You make nice drinks, Ana," Elliot gave Ana a fist bump like they were bros, Ana returned it cooly as if she was part of their gang too. "You're cool, girl. This asshole, my brother, can take you home, a young girl like you shouldn't be walking home by yourself at this minute of the night." He bowed in courtesy as Anastasia nodded back at him.

"Take care of her," Ana and Elliot shared a bro hand-shake as he departed with her best friend in his arm.

"Anastasia," the brother muttered, letting the name roll off his tongue naturally. "Pretty name for a pretty girl," he commented lightly.

"Wish I can say the same, only I don't know your name," Anastasia walked up to him to take a closer look of his face, he sure was a looker.

"Shame," he shook his head, not intending to give out his name. "I do like your performance tonight though, very talented."

"Thank you, did you contribute to any of it in my stack?" She held out the pile of money she got from the dance, waving it in front of him.

"As a matter of fact, yes, quite an amount compared to all others." He nodded in amusement, even though his face didn't seem to show his expression but his eyes did.

"Thank you, generous man." She bowed, pretending to tip her imaginary hat as she thanked him.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," he offered. Extending his hand for her to take, but she didn't take it.

"Why should I be walked home by a stranger?"

"I'm no stranger to you."

"I consider everyone who I don't know the name of a stranger."

"Good point well made, but I don't know your full name either."

Ana shrugged. "Fair point," then she started to walk toward her place, knowing that the man would follow her. "A capable man like you should have a car, didn't you come here with it?" She asked, voicing her thoughts in her mind.

"And a man like me also happen to have a chauffeur who can bring it back so I can walk you home. It's not everyday that I meet a beautiful girl like you on the street."

"Because you're not on the street everyday, you're in a car or in a building." Anastasia retorted, casting her eyes up to see his reaction.

"You have a very smart mouth, I must say." The stranger said, chortling slightly.

"So do you, sir, so do you." She replied, and at that moment, the word she used made him generate an idea.

"The name is Christian Grey, and I look forward to seeing you around, Miss Anastasia Steele." He said as he got into the car that was parked near the sidewalk, it was gone the second he got in and closed the door.

He left not because he didn't want to be a gentleman, but in order to tell her his real name, he had to get away fast enough so he wouldn't have to deal with the potential consequences.

…

She didn't think it was possible for anyone to not recognize the Prince of Seattle, but that night, she didn't. Perhaps she was too tired to think properly. She was the bartender that night, so she shouldn't have fuzzy memories as if she had been the one consuming all the liquids she had made. Yet, she couldn't recall details of yesterday night.

Though, one scene was unusually clear in her memory.

"Christian Grey," she muttered the name, playing with it to test out the sound of it. He was very recognizable and very mysterious. However, it took her until the morning to understood what he did last night. She must've been captivated by his charm that her mind just stopped functioning.

Kate was still hanging around the brother, and she had just finished her breakfast. She needed to study even though it was the weekend, because she couldn't afford to fail even if getting full marks wouldn't get her the payment that she needed for her research project.

Anastasia's other residential doctor friends had all gotten their final research project approved and given the budget, but she just never heard back from her professor again about her project.

She had always wondered, if she had had better grades throughout her whole life and a richer family, would she be one of the kids who lived a smooth life?

"Hello?" She picked up the vibrating cell next to her and put it next to her ear, her mind still on her unanswered research project proposal.

"Anastasia," the voice purred and she shivered, instantly knowing who it was.

"This is unexpected," she muttered, voicing her exact thoughts.

"What is?"

"You purring in my ear."

"Do you like it?"

"Are you flirting with me?"

"I'm not trying to get into your panties."

"Not yet," she added, silently punching herself in the face for the lack of filter around this man.

"You're right, but a man can dream." She could hear the smirk in his response.

"I'm not even going to ask how you found my number because the next thing I'll find is you at my door. But, why did you call?"

"Do you have time for a drink? I want to talk to you in person."

"Sure, though it can't be long, some of us needs to study to have a good future."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, as if you're not accomplished enough."

"What? Me? Are you blind, Mr Grey?"

"Well, I'll have to see you before I make a judgment. So, what do you say?"

"You are very smooth," she chuckled. "Are you looking for a bar or a coffee shop."

"The latter."

"Okay, meet you in that new place in Pike Market."

…

When she said that he was easily recognizable, she wasn't lying one bit, because the moment he got into the car last night, his Head of Security and bodyguard told him that he had been pictured by some passerby. He asked if they caught the girl in that photo, and the answer came back positive.

"Fucking shit," he cussed in the car.

Immediately after, an idea came springing into his head. Perhaps he should change tactics this time and give the media something to write about.

The decision led to his abrupt call that interrupted the quiet and peaceful morning of the brunette that he was photographed with. He was certain that if the picture had been any more clearer than it was shown on the social media post, it would've gone viral.

He didn't even wait for his PR's message before he acted himself. He was going to ask her out for a drink so they could be seen in public again, and he could strike a deal with her. The background check that he had ordered was still sitting in his inbox unopened, but if asking her out wasn't working then he'd turn to play dirty, because for some odd reason, he really wanted her.

Though, for what, he wasn't so sure.

…

"There's a Mariners game later, and I was hoping that you'd accompany me. I hope you're a fan of baseball."

"My dad is, so I kind of have to be."

"A fan of baseball or the Mariners?"

"Both," she shrugged noncommittally. It wasn't like she had anything important on her agenda for today, since she was supposed to be sleeping in this morning given her late night shift. She didn't know why she woke up earlier, she could've missed his call altogether.

"Well?" He asked regarding the impromptu date.

She knew his name but really didn't know anything about him, other than the fact that he was young, rich and handsome. He knew nothing about how the media had painted him and what he was like as a person. She was determined to get to know him, after all, he did witness her performance in the bar last night and granted her a large tip.

"Sure," she quipped lightly. The next thing on her agenda was study and she planned it for the afternoon, after lunch. The day after her midnight shifts were usually lazy days like today.

"I just want to get to know you better," he explained his motives behind this sudden invitation.

She didn't know what prompted that explanation but she was sure that the doubt and uncertainty written all over her face as she played with her coffee cup was enough to induce it.

"Okay," she nodded accepting the reasoning even though it did appear a little forced but she wrote it off as being nervous. "When is it?"

"We'll be there just in time if we go now," he checked his watch and announced. "I'll drop you back home after the game," he told her as he opened the car door for her. Out of the corner of his eyes, he had noticed a few raised camera phones, and he knew that this outing had been captured by multiple devices and would soon be spreading around the internet.

…

"Uh oh, the kiss cam is on us."

Everyone around them had snapped their heads in the direction of the couple, some straining and stretching them to get a closer look at the real couple instead of the ones on screen.

Christian frowned wanting to ask what that was. He was about to use half-time as an opportunity to start his twenty questions with her but he had forgotten about the entertainment that was included during that time. It was probably because it had been too long since he was last there to watch a game like a normal guy.

"They're going to think we're on a date," Anastasia knew her face was on that huge screen so she tried to squeeze words out of her teeth while maintaining a friendly face, if not smiling.

"They should," he smirked at her gaping mouth. "We should do something," he murmured, leaning closer to her ear.

"Down the wine," she blurted out, raising the glass of wine they both had in their hands. "And do the dab," she then added thinking if the guy wouldn't do it then she'd do it herself.

Turning to face each other, he reached his arms out deliberately looping it around hers before bringing the glass to his lips. She hadn't see that coming but had no choice but to comply since they were under the scrutiny of the entire stadium and she wouldn't want to embarrass anyone.

So, she followed suit, and they downed their wine with looped arms. Looking back at the screen, she thought it was awkward to not do anything to communicate with the audience, so she did the dab while Christian watched her with fascination.

That and downing the wine wasn't the action that got the most reaction, it was the wink that he sent her when she turned to face him after doing the dab celebration. To offer more of an entertainment, Christian leaned over and stole a kiss from her right in front of thousands of people. He knew this was probably going to make national news and he better come up with an explanation before he release a press statement.

"What was all that?" Anastasia asked, finally decided to bite the bullet and question it because if it was an act on impulse, he wouldn't have pulled her in for another kiss and left his arm around his shoulder for the remainder of the break and even till half way through the game.

"What was what?"

She knew he was playing dumb but she chose to ignore it for now. "You kissed me on camera."

"It is called a kiss cam, so people are expected to kiss."

"We're not a couple," she emphasized. "Besides, this isn't a date."

He shrugged. "Date or not, you've got no boyfriend and you've got no strings attached, I don't see why not."

"How do you know that I don't have a boyfriend?"

"You came out with me willingly."

"Yeah, because this isn't a date, we're only hanging out like friends."

"Then, what could be a date?" He neglected the friends part, because he wanted more from her, at least an act in front of the public.

"I don't know," she shrugged, shifting her focus back to the game. "I've never been much of the dating kind. I was too focused on my studies to get into medical school, then I want to start my research project but my proposal never got approved."

It was easier than he thought to get information out of her. He thought he would have to go back and read the background check in order to find something about her that she was struggling with.

"Neither am I. Believe me, I've never dated before."

"I don't believe you," she shook her head, staring at him as if he had grown two heads. Their surrounding was quickly forgotten.

"No one has seen me with a woman," he said.

"But that doesn't mean you've never had a girlfriend, it could just mean that you're an extremely private person. Which, you are," she added showing him that she actually knew who he was.

"I am a private person, but now that I'm seen with you, I think it's proving everyone wrong about their theories."

"We're not dating, so it really didn't prove anything."

"Everyone saw us kissing, so the technicalities really don't matter."

"Now you're just not playing fair. Do you do that to every girl? Take them out somewhere and attack them."

"No, because if I did no one saw us."

She still looked unconvinced, so he had decided to just out with his plan, hoping that it wouldn't backfire, because he thought he and this girl looked great together in public. He initially wanted to see if Anastasia was attracted to him like he was to her when he first saw her yesterday night at the bar, but he didn't get much of an answer regarding that inquiry.

"Look, I need a favor from you."

"Why would I do anything for you? I don't even know you."

"Good point, which is why we're getting to know each other now," he knew that was a low blow and it wouldn't get him anywhere, if not backwards.

"That still doesn't make sense for you to ask me for a favor."

"No, you're right. How about I rephrase it," he tried again. "Can we make a deal?"

"About?"

"You need money for your research project," she nodded, listening to his proposal intently. "I can sponsor you," he offered.

She shook her head instantly thinking that it would be a bad idea to involve someone that wasn't at all related to the medical field. She couldn't let this one decision ruin the entire path she had built leading toward her career as an anesthesiologist.

"No, just hear me out," he stopped her from speaking. "You need a sponsor and I need someone to play my public girlfriend."

"Why can't you just use your own girlfriend?" She knew those kind of things would only get complicated, no matter how cautious they were.

"I don't have one. I told you I don't date."

"So, why do you want a girlfriend now, all of a sudden?"

"It will make me appear to be more human. People think I'm aloof and cold, and if I have a sweetheart like you in my arms, then I think they'll believe that I'm more amiable and approachable."

"So, this is about your reputation and your public image."

He nodded.

"Does your PR team know that you're doing this? Because, I've heard of these kind of deals, they usually don't end up well."

"What do you mean?"

"If we keep making public appearances as a couple people are going to expect things from us, and since we're only acting but we don't know one another at all, what if we tell different stories when asked. There are so many risks and loopholes in those kind of arrangements."

"You're not doing it then."

"I'm not desperate enough for the money to do so. No," she admitted, declining his offer.

He sighed, thinking that he may need another way to persuade her into agreeing.

"How about we date for real?"

"What?" She shrieked at his ridiculous idea.

"Be my girlfriend," he asked, laying a hand on her knee to get her undivided attention.

"We don't know each other at all, Christian. We've just met and quite frankly, there's no chemistry between us, so I don't know what you've seen in me that prompted you to choose me as your fake girlfriend."

"Oh no, you're wrong, baby." He smirked, testing out the term of endearment and admittedly he liked it.

"How?"

He didn't answer her verbally, instead he covered her mouth with his and cupped her face so she wouldn't move away from the kiss. He was determined to prove to her that they had a chemistry and he was indeed attracted to her, or else he wouldn't have approached her.

"Did you feel that spark when we kissed?" He touched his forehead with hers and mumbled against her lips. He could see that she was in a daze after being kissed like that, which made him believe that she had probably never been kissed so passionately before.

She nodded mutely.

"Can you say that we don't have any chemistry? Trust me, baby, the attraction is real."

"You want to date for real just because you're attracted to me? That reason is a little bit shallow for someone who's trying to find a girlfriend."

"We can put a label on our relationship but get to know each other after."

"Doing everything in reverse?"

"Yes," he pulled away but could still see that his kiss had assured her of the connection they had but she wasn't sold completely about the deal he was offering. She still looked doubtful. "Look, if it makes you feel any better, we can put it down on paper and sign a contract."

"A contract?"

"Yes, a contract that states what kind of relationship we have and what our roles are expected of us."

"For how long do you want me to be your girlfriend?"

"I thought dating shouldn't have an expiration date."

"They shouldn't, but we aren't exactly dating are we? See, that's what I'm saying, it's already getting complicated before it even started."

"Hence, my suggestion to just forget about everything I've just suggested and date like normal people."

"It's hard to say yes to dating you even if I don't know those preconditions."

"Why?"

"Because men like you are just too unpredictable and I know I won't be benefitted from it if I do agree to enter a genuine relationship."

"I won't take advantage of you."

"Okay, but there's still the chance of getting hurt in the process, even if it's only meant to be an arrangement. People can't control their feelings, and I'm going to be up front with you, Christian. I'm a girl who gets attached emotionally easily. I'm not clingy but I do get attached easily, so I don't want to get hurt just because you decided overnight that this arrangement isn't working out for you."

"I'm not that kind of man, Ana."

"I don't know that, I can't just take your word for it. Every men who's trying to get a woman to agree to them will say stuff that she wants to hear, not the truth."

"You're stereotyping, and I don't fall under that stereotype."

"You're saying it now."

"Perhaps I'd be the one that's grown attached to you."

She snorted disbelieving.

"You don't believe me?"

"No, not really, to be honest."

"Do you not think that men have hearts, too?" He scowled at the implication.

"I do believe that they have emotions, but I just thought they might be more immune to it."

"Oh, trust me, it's the same for me. I have abandonment issues," he confessed deciding to throw her a bone here.

"Why?"

He frowned, not wanting to answer it.

"Humor me," she requested.

"That's nothing entertaining," he warned.

"Tell me," she encouraged.

"I had a horrible childhood and I was abused, taken advantage of in my teenage years. I only recently came out of my shell, but still not completely. With my thriving company and the recent picture of our tryst yesterday night, there will be a lot of attention on me and I just want to ride out the spotlight until it shifts."

"So, you want me to play the part that I played last night?"

"I just need to be seen with you, so to say."

"Okay," she agreed. The eagerness to get started on her research project was suddenly overpowering all rational thoughts that prevented her from agreeing to the arrangement.

"Okay?"

"You need a girl in your arms and I need money, I think we have a deal."

"Do you still need it written on paper?"

"It would be nice," she hummed. "But, I thought you said we should just date like normal couples."

"Yes, but the contract will be there for references."

"How about we add additional terms to this deal and put it down on paper."

"Okay, what kind of terms?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	2. Coming To Terms

_**Coming to Terms**_

_"What kind of terms?"_

"For example," Anastasia pondered for a moment, and Christian waited for her answer patiently, everything was just within reach he just needed to be patient for a little longer. "You'll have to tell me about your past."

His horrified expression told her that she had struck the right nerve.

"If I have to open up to you then you have to do the same."

She nodded in agreement, it was because she had nothing to hide, she's got no past because of her ultimate goal.

The only secret that she had kept from everyone was the fact that she was trying to save up for a Lamborghini Aventador. She had been doing that since she had gotten her driver's license. Her studies had taken most of the money and that was after she relied heavily on financial support and scholarships. Her entire life was mostly dedicated to study, getting accepted into the best programs and becoming a doctor, obtaining her license. It was all because of her dream to work as a physician with a high salary so she could afford the car.

"We all have skeletons in our closets, the only difference is the amount. You know I won't judge you, right?"

"No, I don't." He replied truthfully. "I do believe that you might not want anything to do with me once you learned who I really am."

"A serial killer? Trust me, even if you are planning on murdering me, I wouldn't run."

He gave her a questioning look.

"A guy like you can easily track me down if I didn't use the help of a military organization. I will have to plan my escape which I don't think I have time for. Also, we are entering a contract bound relationship, so I don't think I have the choice to run."

"I am giving you a chance to leave, you know."

"I do, but there really is no need. We aren't going to be in every aspect of each other's life, so it really doesn't matter. You don't have to know everything about me, and I don't have to know everything about you. We just have to know the important stuff, like if you've got any _interesting_ friends or acquaintances."

"And, you're going to tell me about yours?"

"Yeah," she agreed. "I mean since our relationship is purely for the public eye so we can't have the other freak out because we bumped into one of our past. I mean surely we might see them roaming around at some function that you're supposed to show your face at."

"Actually, I doubt you'd see any of my past."

"Why?"

_Because they've signed an NDA._ He wanted to say that but he didn't because he was still contemplating on having her sign one. So, instead he said. "They don't mix in the same circle as me."

"What do you mean?"

"That's one of my skeletons," he told her. "You'll have to learn more about me once we meet in my apartment. I'll show you my skeleton."

She stared at him unable to form words, she had no idea what to say to him or how she should react.

The loud cheer that erupted around them broke them out of their own bubble, reminding them that they were still in the stadium watching the Mariners game.

"Well, guess the Mariners won."

Anastasia nodded again, still in a daze from what she had just agreed to with a complete stranger. And, she did that because of money. She was even more shocked as realization dawned her of what she had just done. There was no turning back though, they had already been spotted and from their behaviors on camera, it would be more convincing to say that they were a couple.

When everyone stood up gathering their junks ready to leave, she followed suit but was instantly pulled back down by the hand next to her.

"Can you come to my place?"

"When?" She mentally facepalmed at her eagerness, she should've declined the offer and suggest a neutral ground but the word just flew out of her mouth as if it was a loaded answer.

"Now," he nod his head.

"What? Do you not have anything else to do? Work?"

_This is part of my work_. He thought but didn't voice that, instead he let the smirk surface.

"Why are you smirking?" She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously.

"I was just thinking that I'd rather work on you."

"Christian, I'm going to be blunt," she was thankful that it was loud and everyone was minding their own business trying to get the hell out of the place. "If you only want public appearances and sex then I'm not going to comply."

"Of course these are what I want, but perhaps not what I _only_ want." He pondered for a moment, her words did summarize his intentions accurately.

"I'm not staying the night and if we can't come to terms about the contract, then the deal is off." He agreed immediately.

…

OCTOBER 2012

She signed the NDA, negotiated the contract with him and they agreed that when the spotlight was over they would go their separate ways quietly.

"Ana, if we want to make this convincing, we'll have to be photographed by the paps from time to time. Just appearing at functions isn't enough."

They were already three months into their contractual agreement and everything was going according to plan. She played the girlfriend in front of the camera and even met his parents at some of those functions. The media was getting more and more frenzy over the sheer amount of public outings Christian had attended.

She would go back to her apartment and continue with her own life as if she didn't have a public boyfriend, and he would go to work with a spring in his steps and a smile on his face.

Their encounters were all strictly limited to social gatherings, there wasn't a time when they just hangout merely because they wanted to see each other, and Christian was itching to find a reason to get her to hangout with him.

Finally, one day, the perfect idea came into mind when he heard the people in his office mention that no one had caught them on a date or anything private, it was always what he wanted everyone to see, which would make this entire relationship seem fake. Albeit it was.

"I thought the press loved it and they're about to get bored and move on."

_I don't want them to move on._ He thought to himself but bit his tongue.

"Nah, they're still stuck on us. Maybe for a while longer. I just thought if they don't catch us on a date or something, they will fabricate stories to say that our relationship is fake or even worse, say that you're an escort or something."

"What? This is ridiculous, if they just do their research they'd find everything there is about me. I do have medical articles published and your mom even recognized my name."

"I know baby, but the media is different. They won't care about it," he was going to do everything he could to not waste this phone call.

_Just say yes, woman. Dammit!_

"Are you seriously going to get hounded by the paps deliberately? Besides, there isn't a clause in the contract that says we're supposed to go on dates."

"I know there isn't, but the situation calls for it. I do remember that we agreed if the situation calls for it we'd improvise."

"Yes, but I don't see this as some emergency."

"We don't have to go on on a formal date," he tried another tactic.

"Then what?"

"Just hangout, like grab a coffee, take a walk around the park. Anything, we just have to be seen by them."

"And you forgot to mention that we have to act all lovey-dovey, touchy feely and shit."

"I thought that's a given," he goofed. "We were really convincing at those galas."

"Yeah, and you fooled your sister into believing that I'm going to stick around. If Elliot doesn't settle down soon your sister is going to badger you into proposing to me so she can plan our wedding."

"Fuck, that's going to be a pain in the ass." He was referring to his sister's badgering because quite frankly, he didn't see any problem proposing and marrying Anastasia. In fact, it sounded like a fantastic idea.

"Right?" She thought he was agreeing with her on the marriage part.

"But, we still need to make public appearances other than walking the red carpet to make it even more convincing and believable. If there's no drama and we're always so in love in front of public eyes, then we're going to be hounded less by the media because healthy relationships without fights are boring."

"They like drama," she agreed nodding her head.

"Yeah, so we don't give them drama we just act like a normal couple."

"Okay, I'm game. Tell me your plan."

Christian muted the phone and leapt up from his seat. "Fuck yes!" He fist pumped the air and sat back down when he heard her calling his name repeatedly. Next step he needed to get her to agree to sleep with him because he was suffering from the worst blue balls.

They agreed to be monogamous with each other just to keep things simple but she didn't know the motive behind this suggestion. Christian specifically brought this up because he had been dying to have her since he first saw her on that dance floor, and he couldn't think of anyone else when he hadn't had her.

"I'm here," he picked up the phone. She was seconds away from hanging up if he didn't answer. "I was thinking about taking a walk around Pike Place Market, or do you want to go shopping? That seems more domesticated in public eyes." He couldn't care less what they did, he just wanted to hangout with her so he could have a reason to touch her and kiss her.

"Let's go shopping next time, I don't think I need anything. Maybe we can go shopping for a dress for the next ball?"

"Sounds good," he was having a hard time keeping the excitement out of his voice just by hearing her say _next time_. Even though he would always pick a dress for her and have it delivered to her via his personal shopper, he'd never turn down that invite.

"When do you want to go to Pike Place? You know that I live literally right next door."

"Are you busy now?" He asked in a hopeful tone, he was going to drop everything the second she agreed on going out with him. He knew he had to work on the weekends because he hadn't been able to concentrate during the week so he wasn't exactly the most productive.

"I guess now is okay, but I do have to come back early though."

"I know, you're preparing for your test."

"I hope it works or else I'm going to lock myself in the lab until that experiment yields some kind of result."

He laughed, he knew that she had been stuck on an experiment. Since he was sponsoring her research, he asked that she kept him in the loop which turned into her constant whining and complaining each time one of her experiment failed or didn't go as expected. He loved hearing about it though, so whenever she called him out of the blue just to cry about another epic failure he would always listen and joke with her.

She probably didn't know that those small gestures she did by calling him to bitch about random stuff that happened in the lab, shit that he didn't understand would deepen his attraction toward her. She was still under the impression that he was acting affectionate because of publicity and the deal they had.

He arrived not long after hanging up the phone and appeared at her doorstep.

"Ready?" He looked like a child who was impatiently waiting for his mother to get ready so they could finally leave for the place that got him all excited.

"Yeah," she patted her small purse feeling for her phone, keys and identification cards.

"Here, this is for my girl." He whipped out a single white rose behind his back and handed it to her.

She whiffed at it and smiled shyly up at him, matching his own bashful grin.

"Figured you'd like something less shiny," he explained the choice for the color.

"You're right," she couldn't help but lean up on her tip toes and planted an equally reserved kiss on the corner of his lips. He wished that it would've been right on his mouth but that was close enough.

They strolled out of the building with hands clasped tightly in the other's and sunglasses fallen into place. In the slow pace they were walking in, she couldn't help but succumb to her feeling of wanting to hug onto him, so she did.

He twisted his head sideways when she rested her head against his shoulder as she hugged his arm tighter. Now grasping his hand in hers, she allowed her other one to go around his waist. The closer she pulled herself to him the bigger the smile grew on his face. He loved it that she wanted to be affectionate with him, and he would bet his fucking ass that it wasn't for show.

"Where do you want to go?" He hummed in her ear, pulling her in front of him and wrapping both of his arms around her waist as his lips brushed over her temple.

"Can we not have a proper meal and just buy food here and there?" She turned in his arms so their fronts were touching.

He leaned down and nuzzled her nose after pecking them repeatedly. "Whatever you want."

"I want chocolate," she lit up instantly, her arms tightening around his torso. He grinned, loving the glint in her eyes.

"Lead the way," he told her, stealing a kiss from her quickly before she turned around pulling him along.

From the corner of his eyes he could already see people raising their camera and phones at them, he even smiled at one of them while being dragged along by his bubbly girl. He wasn't going to let anyone ruin the fun for his girl so he was going to tolerate the photographs, besides he liked it when he was seen with her. She had a way to make him appear like his age in public.

"Oh, Christian," she stopped suddenly, turning around and clasping her hands together in front of her. "This is the chocolate place, they have hot chocolate, chocolate croissant and everything chocolate. The only problem is, it's a little expensive so I've only had it once."

"Don't worry about the price, baby." He would sell his entire asset in exchange for the happiness that was radiating off his girlfriend.

"Do you really not mind?" She frowned.

"I really don't," he smiled at her warmly, pulling her in for a reassuring kiss on the mouth. "I could buy the shop for you if you only say the word."

"Thank you! You make me so happy." She jumped up and gave him a sloppy kiss before entering the shop.

"You have no idea how immensely happy you make me every day," he chuckled to himself and allowed himself to be literally dragged into the store.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, I didn't think it'd cost that much. I only got one croissant and one cup of chocolate, though it's a big one."

"I've told you that it makes me really happy to spoil you. Please stop worrying about it and enjoy it."

"Do you want to try? It's really good," she offered an already bitten croissant to him and he took a huge bite. "Christian Grey!" She stomped her foot adorably making him smile even bigger. "Now half of it is gone. Why don't you have this and buy me another one." She pouted, she was only joking about buying another one because she knew the price was too expensive for one croissant, it wasn't worth it, but he gave her his card.

"Go buy it," he shoved the card in her hand. "Go," he encouraged knowing that she didn't need much convincing because she was already half convinced by herself that she deserved another one. "I'll save the rest for you," he took the croissant and the cold chocolate from her and watched her skipped back to the counter.

He was really tempted to take another bite and a sip from her food but he resisted, he wanted to make her happy and if she loved what she had ordered, he'd let her finish them.

"Better?" He asked as they continued to stroll around the market place, his security lurking behind them, somehow maneuvering through the crowds.

She was now on her second croissant and her cold chocolate finished with the cup already in the bin. She nodded her head eagerly and grinned at him, offering him another bite. He took it and this time taking a normal bite. They both knew that he was just playing with her when he took that gigantic bite earlier.

"Do you want to go to the cheese shop?" She asked, pointing at the store next to them where there were people making cheese inside.

"Sure," he nodded and followed her in.

Her hand was clasped tightly in his and the other one had the croissant in them, so she couldn't even touch the cheese if she wanted to. When she stood in front of a fresh mozzarella ball debating on whether to try one from the sample plate, Christian picked one up using his free hand and fed it to her.

She moaned and hummed in appreciation, and that was enough to tempt him to buy some for her.

"Do you want some?" He asked, pointing at the mozzarella that her eyes were still lingering on.

She stared at him and when their eyes meet, he could see the on-going debate she was having in her mind. She was contemplating about everything, the price, the amount, the storage place, the usage and everything.

"You're thinking too much, baby."

"It's such a big portion though," she pointed out.

"Do you want to split it in half so we can keep half at your place and half at mine?"

"And, it's expensive."

"Baby, I'm banning the word expensive from now on. Stop thinking about the price and just let me spoil you. Whatever you want you'll get. Spoiling you makes me really happy, so please let me do it."

He looked so sincere that she momentarily forgot that their relationship technically was built on a stack of paper they both signed, the contract.

She nodded. "Then you keep it, since you bought it."

"Will that tempt you enough to visit me more often?" He joked but he was going to take the answer seriously.

He had never been to her apartment, at least not inside, but she had been to his, albeit only twice. The first time for negotiation and the second time was because they were attending Coping Together so they had to leave together.

"Maybe," she shrugged noncommittally. It wasn't the answer that he was waiting for or the one he wanted to hear, but it was what he got so he had to accept it.

They continued their stroll, his arm had now made its way around her shoulder and her hand had slipped into his back pocket.

"You know what I used to do with Kate once in a while when I'm not studying?" She shifted her head on his shoulder, adjusting it so it wouldn't slide down.

"What?"

"We would go shop for sunglasses. Go into one of those shops and find the most ridiculous pair and pose for pictures. We would stay until we got kicked out by the saleswoman."

She was giggling softly at the memory and as much as he loved her giggles, he interrupted. "Do you want to do that with me?" He unconsciously held his breath awaiting her answer.

"Sure, why not? You really want to do it? You're going to get recognized and people will go crazy at you."

"No, they won't go crazy at you but they'll snap too many pictures of us." _They already did._ He added but didn't voice it out loud.

"I'm fine with that, as long as they don't intrude."

"They won't," he assured.

"Then, come on. Let's start with this one," she pulled him into the nearest store.

It was a small place with only a few collections, and it wasn't hard for her to find the kind that she had always loathed.

"Those glasses makes you look like flies," she turned around with the roundest and brightest sunglasses on her nose.

The moment he saw her he couldn't help but laugh.

"How do I look?" She posed in a way too dramatic manner with her hand on her hip and her lips pouted.

"You do look like a fly," he admitted still chortling.

"How come you look so good in the ugliest pair," she whined when she saw him in a round rimmed one with pink lenses.

"You think I look good in this? This is borderline female and yet the tag says it's for male. Sheesh, who wears something this feminine."

"Wait, don't take it off," she pulled out her phone and flipped the camera around.

She made an expression mimicking a fly and when he saw himself it suddenly reminded him of those K-pop bands, so he tried his best to mimic one of those dancers that he had only seen on commercials.

She snapped and put the glasses away and he did the same. She was about to reach for the next one when they heard a loud commotion outside and Taylor approaching them motioning them that it was time to leave.

Taking her by the hand, he suddenly took off running out of the store and onto the busy street in a random direction, until they stopped at another shop that they didn't even realize was selling clothes.

They stopped, both panting slightly from short of breath, and she started to giggle out of the blue which made him laugh. Once they were done doubling over, she had an idea.

"Let's go in," she pointed to the large clothing store behind them. "And we're going to dress each other. We don't have to make the other look good, we just have to find them clothes. It can be ridiculous, boring, outdated, whatever, just clothes."

"Cool," he actually liked the idea. He had never knew that hanging out at those market place would be such a delightful experience, perhaps he went with the wrong people and Anastasia was more of his style.

"Do you want to dress me first?"

_Do I get to undress you?_ He nearly blurted that out but bit the inside of his cheek just in time.

"I think I know what you're thinking, Grey." Her eyes turned into slits, and he suddenly paled. He didn't want to ruin the day's fun with one comment and he certainly wasn't ready to part with her yet.

His eyes turned round as he tried to come up with something to explain but he couldn't when he knew she had seen right through him.

"Yes, you get to undress me," she smirked. "And, I'll get to undress you in return."

_Gladly._

"Now, go pick out my outfit. I'll follow you but I'm not going to give you any input. Come on, boyfriend." She giggled as she threw her arm around his neck trying to pull of casual but was too short so she ended up clinging on to him. He used that chance to lift her feet off of the ground and sway her from side to side, and her giggles grew louder, it turned to squeals, earning some looks from other customers.

"Christian!" She buried her reddened face in his chest when she realized that people were watching them.

The splitting smile on his face was enough indication that he had loved every second of the scene even if everyone was watching.

"Okay, I believe you are in need of some outfit, honey."

He didn't let her lead him anywhere this time because he pulled her close to him so he could sniff her hair and steal kisses from her anytime he pleased, which was often.

"I'll go for sexy then," he mused out loud. "Let's start with a bra," he deadpanned, earning him a glare from the girl now locked in his arms. "Okay, panties."

"Christian Grey, focus!"

That exclamation certainly turned a lot of heads and even more camera phones.

"Oh shit," she muttered suddenly remembering that they weren't alone.

"Don't mind them, baby." He smoothed his hand over her hair and cupped her cheek giving her a sweet and tender kiss. It was too long to be appropriate in public but too short for his liking. "It's just you and me," he told her, gazing in to her eyes with the same intense emotion that he felt these days whenever he thought of her.

"Do you want to continue?"

"Hell yes," he pecked her again and refused to let go of her. "I want to dress you."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	3. Never Enough

_**Never Enough**_

JANUARY 2013

It was a Sunday and it marked their six months anniversary, it was also the weekly family luncheon of the Greys. Christian had been turning it down left and right because Anastasia didn't think it was appropriate for her to meet his parents under the circumstances of the nature of their relationship, but Grace wouldn't have it anymore, especially since after she kept meeting her in social gatherings that Christian surprisingly attends.

"I'm really sorry," Christian apologized once more while he sat on her bed watching her change.

_"Ana, I don't think my mom will be accepting another excuse from us. She's downright demanding your attendance."_

_Anastasia sighed into the phone. She knew that he wanted more and he had once asked her hypothetically speaking, if they ripped every paper they signed to shred, would she consider a real relationship with him. She told him that she wanted to move to Maryland since she applied to their program, if she got in there was the risk of long distance. She didn't want long distance._

_"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. Grace knew her from her published scholarly articles and she had voiced her desire to speak with her in person the first time at the Coping Together ball._

_Christian really wanted her to meet his family, but she was the one declining the invitation each time._

_"Really? Just like that? I thought you'd need more convincing." He grinned like a Cheshire Cat but she couldn't see it._

_"Yeah," she shrugged absentmindedly. "I mean, your mom did say she wants to talk to me in person about my studies in pain relief drugs."_

_"Great! Can I pick you up on Saturday?"_

_"Sure, we also need to figure out how we're going to decrease the public appearance to soften the blow on the public when they don't catch us together anymore."_

_This was the subject that he had been trying to avoid and detain with all his might. As per his contract, the media did switch focus to some other public figures and gave up on their sweet little bubble. He even thought about stirring up drama himself just so she would stay._

_"Okay," his voice dimmer significantly and the enthusiasm that was in his voice earlier vanished. He hated this topic, but she kept bringing them up._

By now, the intimacy of their relationship had escalated in a way that could hardly be controlled. It wasn't their intention to mix business with pleasure, but they couldn't help the chemistry and attraction between them.

At first, she was strictly against going to each other's place to hangout but that trip to Pikes Place had softened her rules. She went back with him to his place and they made out which led to something more heated. From there, they couldn't stop.

It wasn't from the lack of persuading on Christian's side either. He had been bugging her nonstop about attending the family gathering and begging her to stay with him or allow him to stay with her. He could see that she had a soft spot for him.

"Is this okay?" She stepped out of the closet dressed casually in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

"More than okay," he beckoned her to come closer so she was now standing in between his legs. "I'm sorry that my mother forced to go to this luncheon, but I'm not sorry for being the messenger."

He could see it in her eyes that she was conflicted about this whole thing and he was tempted to bring up the idea that had been brewing in his head for the past three months.

"Christian, you're no longer under the spotlight, we can start to decrease our outings."

"What, and prepare for a break up? Hell no."

"That was the deal, it was what we had agreed on."

"I need to talk to you about that, but can we do that after we come back from my parents? Just, please, forget about everything, just focus on me."

She nodded, realizing that they didn't have time for a discussion or else they would be late, and she didn't want to be late.

"I also need to tell you something," she whispered hesitantly and he knew that it wasn't something that had recently occurred but something that she kept from him.

He had never once glanced at the playroom door when they were at his penthouse and he had no problem squeezing into her small sized bed when he didn't want to leave.

"Oh my god, you finally made it!" The door bursted open before they even reached the front porch and Mia shot out from it.

Anastasia stumbled a step back as if she was hit by a strong current and Christian's arm immediately went to her waist to steady her.

"You said you won't be late this time," Grace stepped through the threshold just in time for Mia to move from hugging Anastasia to her brother.

"And we're not," Christian defended, wanting to check the time but was restricted by Mia clinging on to him.

Anastasia turned and gave Christian a wary look. "We're late?" She mouthed but he shook his head.

"Get inside," Grace ushered them in and Christian took that chance to whisper an explanation in her ear.

"I told them we can't stay long so she wanted us to arrive early."

"Oh," Anastasia nodded. Sure, she had met his family a handful of times but they were in public and they wouldn't express their disapproval of her in front of all their friends and guests. Now that they were in private, it was going to be different.

"Don't worry, baby. They're going to love you just like I do," he brushed his lips against her temple but could still feel the doubt so he lifted her chin up so she could look at him and let him kiss her properly.

…

"Ana," Mia and Grace called in unison and in the same excitement which attracted the attention of everyone in the room. "Didn't you say Elliot is seeing your best friend?" Mia spoke before Grace could regain her composure.

"Uh…"

Anastasia casted a nervous glance at Elliot, from what she had heard from Kate was that they weren't in the stage for her to meet his parents yet, so they really didn't talk about going to the luncheons together.

"Elliot," Grace scolded, she had seen her eldest son with the same woman on a couple of occasions when they were attending functions that their family couldn't get out of.

"Mom," Elliot groaned and glared at his younger sister. He wasn't ready to introduce a girl to his parents because he wasn't sure where the relationship was headed, unlike what he had witnessed between Christian and Anastasia.

Christian wanted to say that if Elliot wasn't ready than he wasn't, because it did take him a total of six months to bring Anastasia to his parents, even though her absence was due to a different reason.

"So, Ana," Carrick spoke after the frenzy on Elliot and his new girlfriend died down.

Anastasia's fork stopped in the middle of its way to her mouth with a boiled broccoli on it. She was startled that she'd be the next center of attention, she was so ready to butt out from under the spotlight.

"What is your plan after you graduated from med school?"

"Well, I'm hoping that my research can get me into a good hospital as well as obtaining my license."

"Oh, don't you worry about that, young lady." Grace interrupted feeling the need to praise the young talented girl. "All I've heard from my colleagues who's read your research are positive and I think some of them are tempted to have you in our anesthesiology department."

"What are your plans for the future?"

"Well," she glanced at Christian nervously because she wanted to discuss this with him first before she announce it to everyone.

"What?" Christian sensed the tension and nervousness radiating off of her so he paused his cutting and looked at her.

"I applied for the hospital in Maryland." Her eyes were fixed on his when she whispered the news.

Christian swallowed and stared back. It was as if it was just the two of them in the room now.

"When?" He didn't know how to feel so this was the only response he could muster.

"A few weeks ago."

"Why?" The haunted hollow look in his eyes was enough to break her and she didn't want to cry in front of his family but the longer she looked at him the more she wanted to break down into tears.

She closed her eyes and her lips were visibly trembling, she couldn't even stop them even if she bit down on them.

Taking a deep breath, she turned to the rest of the family on the table. "Excuse me," she said apologetically in the loudest voice she could mutter without wetting her eyes. She stood up and shot out of the room, Christian followed closely behind.

Tears broke free from her eye sockets the moment she turned her back, and now she was in their backyard lawn trying to control her erratic breathing. She could feel his presence near her and she could feel that he wasn't at all happy about the news she had just dumped on him.

"Ana," he reached out for her and she threw herself at him.

"I was going to tell you after we got home," she whimpered in his shirt and she couldn't stop herself from crying she didn't know why.

Christian's hands ran up and down on her back soothingly but she knew he was angry at her.

"Christian, this is bound to happen."

"Why the East Coast?"

"I've always wanted to go there because I've never been anywhere, I've always been studying so I want to work at a different environment."

"Did you plan this before you met me?"

Anastasia nodded her head because it was the truth but she didn't tell him how hard it was for her to turn in that application.

"You're no longer under the spotlight we can go our separate ways now," she swallowed the lump that was forming again. "It's what we agreed on. You sponsored me and I am forever grateful, I will never be able to pay you back."

"Ana," Christian didn't know what to say. "You've already paid me back, more than you know."

He pulled her closer and rested his chin on top of her head. Her sobbing only grew stronger and he didn't feel calm, not a single bit.

"Did you get an answer from them?" He whispered dreading the answer because he knew that they would be blind not to hire her.

"No," he wouldn't even hear that if not for the shake of her head against his chest.

"When do you start if you get accepted?" He was certain that she would.

"In six months."

"Do you want to do long distance?"

"Christian," she pulled back slightly and stared up at her through her teary eyes. "Six months is plenty of time for us to decrease the amount of public outings…"

"Fuck the publicity," he snapped then his eyes softened immediately. "Can I ask you something?"

She nodded.

"Can we tear the contract and the NDA and just shred everything that is making this relationship unreal?"

"Why would you want that?"

_Because I love you._ He wanted to say that but he knew she was determined to go to Maryland.

"Can we spend the last six months together like a real couple?"

Her lips started to tremble again thinking about an expiration date.

"I think your parents are waiting for us," she stepped out of his embrace and walked back toward the house frantically drying her eyes on the way.

…

Everything went back to normal and they had agreed to forget about the conversation they had on the Bellevue lawn. It didn't mean that they wouldn't think about it though.

They did.

Every single day when their mind wasn't occupied by work.

Anastasia was wrapping her experiment and she was now cutting down the hours in the lab and spending more time with Christian. Since she didn't have a workplace and everything, it was just the lab and her house, she had agreed to follow Christian to work as she needed to write her lab report. She thought they would be a distraction to one another, but she had now come to realize that the two of them were the biggest motivation behind each other.

Christian had a breakfast meeting and told her to meet him in the office. He was lucky that she was at home that day because right after the breakfast meeting, he had realized that he had left a file at home so he specifically asked Anastasia to look around and bring it to him.

"Miss Steele," Andrea greeted the moment she stepped off of the elevator with Sawyer, her assigned CPO in tow.

Anastasia nodded back and walked straight into his office. She had been given top clearance and immediate access to him so she could walk around this building like she owned it.

As she threw her brief case on to his desk and took out her computer along with a bunch of papers with her notes, the door busted open and she turned around slowly.

"You said you'd consider it, Christian, is that all the answer you're going to give me?" A blonde woman strutted behind him, and she didn't appear to know how to walk in her ridiculously high heels.

The blonde woman didn't catch sight of her because her focus was solely on Christian and Anastasia could see that this old woman was eye-fucking him.

Christian turned around and blocked the entrance to his office. "I considered your offer and the answer is no, Elena. Perhaps my mom would highly recommend that I invest in your salons but personally, I don't think that she is experienced enough to offer me such an advice. I have, per her request, thought about working together with you. But I have made my decision and I am not going to change it. Goodbye Mrs Lincoln."

Anastasia could imagine Christian's raised eyebrow and the stern look that told her to hurl her ass out of his building. It was what was considered the Dominant stance. She was never affected by it however, probably because Christian never wanted it to have the intended effect on her.

"Jesus fuck, that woman." He slammed the door shut and turned around heading straight toward Anastasia.

"You know I'm here?"

"I saw you when I opened the door."

"So," she wasn't allowed to say another word because he pressed his lips firmly on hers.

"I missed you," he tugged her closer and forced her head to lean against his chest, he needed her touch, especially after seeing that troll whom his family still wasn't aware of.

"Me too," she murmured, not really caring if he did because the way she melted in his arms was enough indication that she felt just the same.

After a long moment, he finally pulled away slightly only to lead her to the couch and sat them both down.

"That was Elena Lincoln," he outed ripping the bandaid off fast, but nothing clicked with her.

"So, she touched you." She scrunched up her nose recalling the familiarity he woman was trying to demonstrate.

"She was the pedophile," he avoided addressing her previous statement. "She's still friends with my mom and she thought she could persuade my mom to persuade me that investing in her stupid ass salon was a good business decision." He huffed with half an eye roll just to display his utter irritation at the intervention.

"Eww..." she mumbled. "She sounds like bad news."

"She is, I told you what happened when I was fifteen."

"Yeah, I still can't believe that it only ended a couple of years ago."

"She thinks she can guilt trip me into investing because she lent me money for GEH."

"She did?"

"Yeah, it was her because my dad was furious that I dropped out of an Ivy League."

"If we met in college I would definitely not let you drop out," she giggled.

"Why?" A small smile also playing on his lips when he heard the sound of her laugh.

"Because I want to brag about having a Harvard boyfriend."

"Now you can brag about having a millionaire boyfriend," he countered with a wide grin, loving every second of it when she referred to their relationship status.

"When will you become a billionaire?"

"Why? Can't wait to have more money to spend?" He teased and she slapped him across the chest while shaking her head feverishly so her hair could give him a whiplash.

He tried to retreat his head as much as possible to avoid the lashing from her hair but the tips always brushed against his cheek which ever way he turned. She would've stopped eventually but she was just too adorable.

"Baby," he dived in bravely with his face in an attempt to touch his forehead with hers so he could see her vibrant blue eyes that he found so hard to resist.

"Just tell me when," she demanded stubbornly.

"Why?"

"So I can calculate how much I can take from you." She jested impatiently.

"Okay, um..." he pondered, "two, three years maybe?"

"Okay."

"Are you done asking questions?" He asked now amused at the confused expression she had on her face.

"I guess," she nodded slowly and still unsure.

"Well, I got up too early this morning, and guess what I missed?"

"Me, of course. But you've got your morning kiss."

"Yes, you, but more importantly I need to get laid."

Before she could even think of a witty comeback, his lips latched onto hers and any thought she had in her mind flew out the window the moment her back made contact with it.

"Let's do something adventurous."

"You wanna fuck against the window?"

"Fuck yes!"

...

When they stepped out for lunch, as they waited at the crossroad for the lights to change, she had her arms wrapped tightly around his waist and his around her upper back, her head snuggled in the crook of his neck. She tilted her head slightly and pouted her lips. He looked down after detecting movements and mirrored hers. Then he leaned down touching his pouted ones against hers. He couldn't help but smile at her desire to be kissed, and unashamedly asking for one constantly.

"You are such a girl."

"I'm a sap, baby, and that's all because of you."

"Is it a bad thing?"

"Hell yes, it is. This is so unlike me."

"Well, guess what, I've never kissed a girl like that in public either. Actually, I've never made out with one like we did earlier when you pushed me against the glass."

"You better not, or else I'd be accusing you of lying to me."

"I wouldn't dare," he smirked. He knew they were caught in camera by a few paparazzi lurking around, but again, he couldn't care less.

"Someone's filming," Anastasia suddenly perked up and in a dissatisfied attitude, too. Her attitude caught his attention.

"How about we do some advertising for my mom's charity?" He suggested.

"How?"

Pulling her into a nearby shop, he quickly produced two cardboards one with the words Coping Together and another with the logo drawn.

"You came prepared, then."

"No, I plagiarized another couple's method of dealing with the paps."

"A celebrity couple? Why would you know?"

"I've thought about it," he admitted sheepishly, somewhat ashamed to let her know that he had been waiting for this day to happen.

"You've thought about getting caught by paps deliberately even after all the limelight has turned away from you?" She frowned not getting it right away what his true intentions were.

He just wanted to be seen with her, because he wanted to leave more traces and evidence of them together before they separate. Deep down, he was still aware of the nearing departure time for her, because he was certain that she would get accepted.

...

They were so familiar with one another that it never felt like they were pretending, it actually felt like they were together. Everything they said to each other sounded like words between a couple, just short of the magical three words and eight letters that would make separation even more difficult.

A few months later, as expected, she got an email from the hospital.

"Christian," she didn't know what kind of emotion she should feel, because if this email was an acceptance letter, then she would be packing her bags and leaving in three months.

"Yeah?" Even he could detect her wavering emotions and her hesitation. They had just got back to Escala after a whole day at Grey House. He flopped down on the beanbag that she was on, squeezing himself forcefully into the seat that she had created using her weight.

She did that once when he was on that beanbag and now he was doing it every chance he got whenever she was sitting there. He liked to cuddle with her and force her to scoot over so they could fit on that bag.

She didn't say anything but showed him her email inbox on her computer.

"What?" He didn't know what he was supposed to look for.

"This," she pointed at the email from the hospital in Baltimore, she could feel him tending up beside her and she was just as nervous, but nervous about what, she couldn't determine.

"What does it say?"

"I want to look at it together."

He didn't say it but he knew she would get in.

And, she did.

"Congratulations, baby," he whispered, battling all kinds of emotions and intense feelings that emerged after reading the letter.

"I don't know what to feel..."

"Be happy, Ana." He whispered and Anastasia could feel the negative feelings radiating off him and it was now affecting her.

"You aren't though," she didn't know why she said that, but she wanted him to be happy for her and be proud of her.

"I am," he said sincerely. "I am happy for you, really happy and proud. I knew you'd get it."

She twisted her body and stared. In the months that she knew him, she had never seen him talk in such a small and uncertain voice. In her mind, he was never confused always clear minded.

"The school would be stupid to not take you, and sponsoring you is one of the best decisions I've ever made. I knew you would do great as a doctor."

"Why does this sound like we're not seeing each other anymore."

He was silent, simply because he didn't want to think about the future or what her acceptance letter would mean to them.

"What about the contract we signed, we had a deal, Christian."

"Is that what you think of me? I may be strict when it comes to contracts in business but never have I ever taken _this_ contract seriously. Were my actions not enough to convince you what I feel for you? You were the one that keeps bringing up that stupid stack of paper which means nothing! Do you not have any feelings for me? Any genuine feelings."

In his state of anger and defeat, he stormed into his office and pulled out the contract and the NDA and stuffed them through the shredder as if it couldn't be shredded fast enough. He glared at those crumbled pieces of papers with so much hatred that she had thought he was regretting everything.

"The only mistake I've ever made is by giving you this fucking contract. I knew you were different, which is the sole reason why I asked you out. But I couldn't rationalize my feelings for you back then, so I offered the deal. I trusted you when you agreed to go see that Mariners' game with me and I never believed that you'll need an NDA, yet I made you sign one."

"Christian…"

"No, Ana, I'm not saying this because I want you to give up your dream opportunity. I will miss you, so fucking much, but I am happy for you. Really happy and proud of you. I will support you with whatever decision you make."

"I will miss you, too." She rushed up and wrapped her arms around him as she whispered back against his chest. She wanted to remind him of the media and that their publicity was no longer needed but seeing him react this way to her news, she swallowed back her words, because she felt the same.

"Can I go visit you?" He asked after taking a few deep breaths.

She nodded instantly. "Yes, please. We will keep in contact."

"Good," he sighed in relief. "Will you take my jet?"

She knew that it would make him feel better, maybe not enough to make him sleep at night but enough to not make him chase her all the way to Baltimore.

"Yes, thank you."

"Stay with me tonight," he requested and all she could do was nod. She didn't plan on spending her last night in Seattle alone anyway.

"Christian, I'm not leaving in three months, we still have time."

He wanted to say more, wanted to tell her that he loved her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew that if he had said it out loud, there would be no going back and he would drop everything and followed her to her new place. He knew she probably wouldn't want that because they really weren't seriously dating.

Yet, it hurt so much.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	4. We Have A Deal

_**We Have A Deal**_

JUNE 2013

It was now mid-June and she still had a little over a month before she had to leave. She planned on leaving in August so she could have time to settle down before she officially start in September.

She woke up exceptionally early today, because it was a special day. If not for him, then for her.

"What are you doing up so early?" She knew he made a habit of sitting at the kitchen table just to watch her work around in his kitchen in most mornings that she stayed with him, unless he had a breakfast meeting or wanted to sleep in late because of a late night conference.

Anastasia smiled wickedly to herself, when she turned around, she produced a cupcake and slid the plate before him.

"For your birthday," she giggled when she placed a candle that was in the shape of the number one.

"I'm one?"

Christian's confused face made her giggle even harder at her own joke.

"First birthday with me," she was still giggling but had calmed down enough to get words out.

"Stop biting your lip," his smoldering eyes now wide and dark, she could see list swirling in the orbs, and she knew if this exchange continued, they would end up fucking on the table.

"Happy birthday, baby." She rounded the table and walked straight into his open arms. She hugged his head and played with his hair.

He could feel her burying her nose in his hair and kissing his hairline when his arm went around her to reach the cake.

"Oh!" He grinned when he realized that it was a volcano cake, where the chocolate syrup filling would flow out when it was cut open in the middle.

"Thought you'd like it since you said you've never had one with everything chocolate."

"You made everything chocolate flavored?"

"Of course," she rested her arms around his shoulder, the bar stool made him a little shorter than her but if he lifted his head, he could easily steal a kiss from her.

"Happy birthday indeed," he had to look away from her eyes, the emotions were getting too intense and overwhelming, he knew if he stared longer he would blurt words out that he shouldn't because it would be irresponsible.

"What do you want to do?"

"I have to go to work," he responded looking confused and suspicious as if she had some other plans that he didn't know of.

"Nah, you're playing hooky today." She told him decisively like he had no say in this.

"I have to meet with Gia today." He said in all seriousness and she could see it in his eyes that he wasn't really looking forward to that meeting.

"For the remodelling of the building interior? Give yourself a break will ya, if you can reschedule meetings just to stay with me, then you can reschedule meetings with some side chick for yourself too." Her nose scrunched up when she heard the name of the designer.

"Are you jealous of her, baby?"

"Yeah," her nose wrinkled again as she thought of the woman that her boyfriend kept meeting in his office and even with her presence she was on the verge of maintaining her professionalism. "I mean, she's good looking and I don't know, helping you with your job and everything, you meet with her multiple times a week." She was trying to downplay her jealousy but she did feel insecure about her relationship with this man.

"There's nothing to be jealous of, baby." He smiled wanting to laugh at her cuteness but knew he'd get slapped across the face if he even dare chortle.

"So you keep saying."

"I mean it. You think that I would spare another glance at another woman when I have you? I didn't ask you out because I thought you were an easy target, baby, I am truly bewitched by you the very first time we met. I really didn't think you'd give me the time of the day."

"Is that why you wanted me to stop working at that club? Because you're afraid that I might run into a similar situation and run off with other men?"

"No to the running off part, I know I am capable of keeping you. But, yes, I did want you to stop tiring yourself when you don't have to worry about money and all the other living expenses. You have me now."

"I can't depend on you forever, you know."

"Why not?"

"Because…" she shrugged, really didn't want to say the real reason that they were both aware of but not wanting to address. "It's your birthday, just stay at home today."

"I have an empire to run you know?" He smiled teasingly, he wanted to stay home with her because she was his home, and he wanted to blow off that meeting with Gia anyway because if it wasn't his company building that he was remodelling he would've thrown this job to Ros.

"I do and one day won't hurt, hence the reason why I called Andrea earlier." She picked up the device that he now just noticed was his phone.

"I knew I shouldn't have told you all of my passwords. Before I know it, my bank account will be cleared and you're going to be the next billionaire in the making."

"You don't mean that," she giggled knowing that she was right. Early on in their relationship they had been completely up front and blunt with one another about things that were happening or histories in their life, so there really wasn't much to hide from one another.

"I probably don't, not that I care what you do with my money," he shrugged, finishing off his very unhealthy yet mouth watering delicious cupcake. "There's more of this right?"

"Yeah, for your parents and mine," she deadpanned, and he looked horrified.

"Over my dead body."

"Okay, yes," she said putting him out of his misery even though his terrifying look was real giggling material. "There's more for you in the fridge, just don't let any male members in our family find out."

"Or you, god knows how much you love chocolate. I'll bet you love that more than you love me."

She shrugged, they were getting on a sensitive topic by bringing their true feelings for one another. She was trying to keep the conversation light.

"So everyone from our family is coming here for dinner?"

"Yeah, and they're all bringing a dish so we don't have to prepare much. I told them to bring the main course and I'll take care of the dessert."

"Fuck, I thought I'd have an entire day with you without any interruption from the outside world."

"Sadly, that doesn't happen in your world."

"It will, in the future, trust me. I will make it happen, because it has to."

"Oh really? You really do sound like you're one," she laughed and pointed at the candle now deserted on the empty plate next to the cupcake wrapper.

"I look forward to hearing more stories and looking at more pictures of your chubby self." He grinned at the memory of them when he first went to meet her parents for Christmas, since she spent thanksgiving with his family.

She rolled her eyes, but she was secretly fond of that memory too. At least it gave her a more legitimate reason to bury her face in his chest the entire conversation and also to curl up in his lap in front of her parents. She would peak at the photos in his hands when he insisted and kept nudging her to look at them, but he didn't need to know that.

She shrugged again. "You can ask for stories then, but in the mean time, other than sex, what do you want to do?"

"I want to know all about your high school crush."

"Shut up," she shoved his shoulder hard eliciting a loud chortle from him. He was joking with her and she knew it, that serious face could fool anyone but her.

"Let's watch something."

Her eyes lit up at the mentioning of watching something.

"As in like a Movie? A TV show? Or what?"

"What do you want to watch?"

"It's your birthday."

"And what makes you happy makes me happy."

She pursed her lips as she pondered his words. He had proved to her time and time that he was happy whenever she was, still she wasn't totally buying it.

"We binged watched the entire Sherlock show, how about Gossip Girl this time?"

"Looking for older stuff now?" He teased.

"I started it when it first came out but never finished it."

"Whatever makes you happy," he told her and he meant it. "You're making me look bad here."

"Why?"

"Because all I've done for you on your birthday is send you to a spa treatment."

"It was relaxing and nice, I liked it."

"Yeah, but compared to what you've done for me today... fuck, I am such an asshole."

"We didn't know each other back then, cut yourself some slacks."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I can't celebrate my girl's birthday properly. I should've put so much more efforts into it."

"Our relationship back then was strictly for publicity, so we did what it needed to be done when you got me to that full body spa treatment."

"Stop defending me, woman."

"You can't change anything now either."

"Okay, let's not rehash it," he sulked. "I'll make it up to you."

She didn't reply, which made him more insecure than ever.

...

_"Three words and eight letters, say it and I'm yours."_

Anastasia VoiceOver and recited with Blair in the show. She looked ridiculous in her dress and her leggings, but then again, it was Serena that always had the better fashion taste. The head band was enough say about one's fashion sense.

"Really?" Christian twisted his head to stare at her just to make sure she was just voicing it along with the actors, but his heart was pounding, the words were just on the tip of his tongue and one word from her could either silence him forever or open the flood gate.

"Really what?"

"You want me to say it?"

She pondered a little and decided to play dumb. "Say what?"

"The three words and eight letters, because I'm on the verge of blurting that out right now."

"You'll have to mean it though."

"I do," he answered seriously wanting her to know that she didn't successfully hide her true feelings behind her teasing tone.

Her heart rate started to speed up the more she gazed into his eyes. Then as if she was reminded of the reality, she shook her head and snapped it away, instantly breaking the connection.

Part of them felt disappointed that they just couldn't get past that one obstacle, but Christian knew it was irresponsible of him to confess when she was about to leave for the other coast, and Anastasia wasn't even entirely sure that he had completely gone off the deal.

Her eyes went back to the TV but her head remained in the memory lane, and she was about to walk down it.

_It was another ordinary where she had to go to the hospital for half a day and then to the lab. It wasn't unusual for residential medical students to juggle between research and residential work, but Anastasia's schedule was extremely full for some reason. Perhaps mostly because she wanted to finish early so she could get her license early._

_"Ana," a colleague greeted her when she walked in but there was something in her tone and in her eyes that differentiated the greeting from the normal ones she got._

_"Morning," she replied and kept walking._

_"Hey, I heard you're kind of like a big deal around here now." Someone else came to her._

_"Uh..." she glanced at the news app on the girl's phone, it was a picture of her and Christian at some function where they were holding each other on the dance floor and gazing into each other's eyes._

_The title suggested that it was one of those friendlier newspapers since they claimed that the two were "clearly in love". They had only been together for less than three months and this wasn't their first public outing._

_Anastasia shrugged in response. "I don't know."_

_"You're dating Christian Grey, and here I thought you're single."_

_"I was?"_

_"Definitely, but damn, look at you two."_

_"You guys make such a cute couple." Someone butted in as the walked by, guess it was the way that Anastasia would be greeted these days._

_"And cute babies," the girl holding the phone giggled. Anastasia stared at them trying to figure out what to do._

_Rolling her eyes at her ridiculous colleagues and overreacting friends she pushed into the office and set her stuff down, unpacking her lunch and putting them into the fridge._

_"Believe whatever you want from the tabloids," she waved at them knowing that everyone was still around her._

_"When did you get a boyfriend?" The doctor that she was shadowing rushed in, she was a huge gossip around the place even though she appeared to be aloof and distant._

_"Two months ago?" She answered estimating the length._

_"And you never told me about it?"_

_"It never came up," she shrugged. "I mean no one asked about my private life."_

_"Oh, but it's not private, is it, Anastasia?" Someone else teased._

_She simply shrugged again. She just wanted to change and get ready for her shift so she could get to the lab on time._

_Her private life is in the limelight, and she had anticipated that when Christian approached her but honestly, she wasn't expecting them to look so in love in the pictures. She had glanced at the photos her colleagues were holding and she agreed that she, too, saw two people very much committed to one another._

Speaking of colleagues and the hospital, she suddenly remembered something that she needed to run past him. "I'm going out with Kate and a bunch of colleagues on the Friday after our last day."

"Aren't you finishing what? In a week or something? I clearly remember you telling me that you have more than a month to prep for Baltimore."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Where are you going to go then?"

"To that bar that I used to work at." She had quit her night shift the moment Christian mentioned about her not needing it.

"What happened to spending every second together before you leave?" He half jested reminding her of the words she had promised him when they saw her admission letter.

"Be patient, man." She scolded lightly but her scowl didn't seem light.

He chortled, pulling her into his lap and hugged her closer.

"I was just going to tell you that I plan on making it up to you by inviting you to my high school reunion."

"High school reunion? You haven't even graduated for that long."

"Believe me, I'm old."

"Oh, then what the hell am I?" He mocked, effectively reminding her that even though she's not that much younger than him but still a couple of years.

"I'm twenty four years old, Christian, it's been more than half a decade since I graduated from it."

"And it's almost been a decade for me. I'm twenty six."

"Well, they actually do this shit every year, just so we can all stay in touch and some other bullshit reason." She shrugged, clearly failing to see the point of arguing with Christian about their current age.

"So, you go every year?" He asked suspiciously doubting that she'd even heard of this reunion since she was too focused on getting into medical school.

"No," she replied as expected.

"Then why are you going this year?"

"Because for the first time, I've got a boyfriend." She grinned and he beamed at the thought of her wanting to show him off to the world.

"I thought you weren't a virgin when we first had sex."

"I wasn't but that doesn't mean I had sex with a boyfriend. I just had sex with a guy, because trust me when I say that the guys studying premeds are really good looking."

"Really?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Not as handsome as you, of course." She rolled her eyes but stroked his ego like he wanted nonetheless. "You're the most beautiful."

"I better be," he smirked cockily and pulled her mouth on his. "I'm so jealous of those fuckers who got to you before me."

"Whoa, tiger. Don't act like you're so innocent when we first met. If I'm not wrong, you told me about your previous lifestyle and also showed me that room you call a playroom."

He shrugged.

"Stop being a hypocrite."

"I'm not."

"You have double standards."

"When it comes to you, fuck yeah!"

"So, I can't implement the exact same standard on you? Using your logic, I should be jealous as fuck right now since you've got fifteen women before me, all petite brunette with experience and most likely in love with you."

"It's different."

"Sure it is. Applying your logic, I'm sure those women are smug as fuck right now to have had a taste of you in their life."

"I'm not a conquest."

"You just don't know."

"Oh, and you do?"

"They're my competition! Of course I do, I have to be aware of those things."

"There's no competition, baby. Never."

"You say that now."

"And I will say that five, ten, fifteen, fifty years later. You've ruined me completely. I will not look at anyone the way I look at you, Anastasia."

She huffed.

"You don't believe me right now, and you don't have to. Frankly, I've given you no reason to do so. However, I am determined to prove to you that I am a man of my words and this is a promise that I _will_ keep. Just you see."

...

"I still can't believe what I've said to you when we first started to have sex."

"I'm horny, fuck me?" He repeated the exact same words that a drunk Ana had told her that night when they drank to celebrate another breakthrough in her experiment and his closing of another valuable deal.

She giggled at the memory.

"You didn't even say please," he added his two cents in laughing.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matters it's not like you fucked me."

"We're both drunk, what if you wake up only to realize that you don't want me, and tell me that all was a mistake, that would've been devastating to me." He defended for himself.

"Okay, you do have a point, but how can I not want you? I mean look at you."

"Right, look at me. The first thing you told me when you took off my shirt."

"You workout?" She snorted with laughter recalling her swooning and drooling face. She literally just froze and forgot about her own nakedness when she saw him, and it was just his upper torso.

"Twice everyday," he smirked, altering the answer he gave her.

"That's not what you said."

"No," he laughed. "I said, so do you."

"Yeah, do I look like I workout?"

"Now you do," he grinned cheekily referring to their active sex life.

Rolling her eyes, she leaned toward him. "I want a workout now, before your family gets here."

"I'm happy to oblige."

…

Following the ding of the elevator, a pile of people flooded into their resident, it made Anastasia wonder just how many people could this lift hold.

"Happy birthday, Christian!" Mia was the first to shot out of the crowd and launched herself at her brother, Anastasia watched Christian open his arms and stumble back to steady himself as he braced the impact.

"Happy birthday, son." His parents followed suit but with a much shorter and less passionate hug from each. All this time, Christian grasper onto Anastasia's hand and had only allowed one arm to be wrapped around his parents.

Another round of happy birthdays came from Anastasia's family and Christian had accepted a hug from both of her parents.

Gail brought in refreshments and everyone was seated in the living room with Anastasia snuggled up against him, laying her head under his chin, and his arm wrapped protectively around her body.

"Okay, so since you don't want your usual surprise party, we were told that you are welcoming the idea of a get together, so here we are." Mia explained their presence and casted a brief appreciative glance at Anastasia. It didn't go unnoticed by Christian because he noticed every interaction people had with his woman.

"We have a surprise for you," Grace announced, and then looked at Carla who echoed the same words.

It immediately dawned the couple that their families had been planning and scheming together. And Anastasia was the first to react.

"Mom, it's not my birthday! Why do you have to do this?" She whined and cried in protest, but no one gave her any response and she could feel Christian's body shaking with laughter which didn't make her feel any better.

She pouted at Christian who only laughed louder after rewarding her with a kiss.

"It's not, I know but I just thought we missed this on your birthday so why not do it on his? I mean it's not like you'd mind. You love that boy like no other." Carla beamed and the smile only grew as her daughter's uneasiness grew.

Christian pulled her tighter to him. They both knew that their families were here to embarrass them with their old histories.

When Grace pulled out a photo album from her bag and handed to Mia, Christian knew nothing good would come out of his sister's mouth, especially when Elliot's head was immediately sucked to the album.

That was when Anastasia had noticed that Kate was sitting with her family instead of Elliot. Kate must've sensed that her best friend had noticed this subtle difference and avoided her glance.

"You can't avoid the inevitable," Anastasia's thoughts had been racing actively through her mind and when Kate didn't even meet her gaze the frustration she suddenly felt made her voice it out loud.

"Yes, you can't," Mia thought she was talking about the embarrassment that Christian was about to endure so she echoed in response with her nose still buried in the pictures.

"Ana," Christian pushes Anastasia away so he could bury his face in her back as he placed two hands on either side of her shoulders to hold her there as a shield. "Baby, promise me you won't listen to a thing they said."

"Why? Did you make up a little white lie just to get a girl?" She teased, running her hands up and down his thigh and patted his knee.

"Maybe," he admitted, thinking he better be honest than getting caught later.

"Okay, what are they?"

"They?" His head shot up and he pulled her back so her upper back made contact with his front. "Baby, you made it sound like I've been lying to you about my entire life."

She giggled at the look on his face which reminded her of the look that he had when she told him that the other cupcakes were reserved for his family. His face was still in the crook of her neck and his hands were still holding her shoulders steady, because Anastasia wanted to sit up so she could pay more attention to the tale that Mia was about to say.

"Don't listen, baby." He nuzzled his nose against her skin making a shit load of noises near her ear.

"Shut up and go away," she shoved him playfully but he wouldn't budge.

"I won't let you listen," he shook him like a boy who was whining and begging for his parents to let him on a play date with his best friend.

Everyone else gawked at the couple like they were watching a reality soap opera, Mia was silently giggling and Kate was laughing at Anastasia's pathetic attempt at pushing him off.

"Oh my god, just shut up, Christian! You'll get a chance to hear mine later, okay?" She rolled her eyes sounding exasperated but she actually wasn't. He could feel it in her body that she was just pretending.

"You're going to rat me out to Ros."

"I've never ratted you out to anyone, it's you who keeps laughing at me and ratting me to Ros about my series of failures in the lab."

He pawed her and started to touch her everywhere just to annoy her and delay her from hearing about his stories.

"Get your paws off of me!" She giggled while swatting at his hands in random directions obviously being fooled by him. He used her moment of weakness and advanced, forcing her down flat on her back on the couch as he hovered above her, pinning her down. "You do realize that we have a room full of audience right?"

"I don't care, I will do anything to stop you from listening to those stories."

"Jesus," Anastasia exclaimed now understanding the fuss. "You're overreacting," she pouted but didn't push him. "Can I see the book then? No stories, I just want to see what you looked like when you were young."

"How about no?"

"You're pushing your luck," she murmured contemplating. "It's not happening."

He pouted at the failed attempt to stop her but moved back to his seat retrieving the photo album from Mia.

"You listen to Kate and my parents spewing shit about me and tainting my reputation, I want to read this book in peace."

He glared at her daring her to leave the room.

"I'll stay by your side," she patted his knee and curled up next to him opening the album.

...

"Christian," Grace suddenly called before she stepped into the elevator. "Your extended family is coming next week, they're going to stay with us for the Fourth of July."

"Okay," Christian nodded. "Ana and I will be there."

"Good, I was wondering if you'd like to take your cousin sight seeing around Seattle."

"Why can't Elliot do that?"

"Because he has to pick up your grandparents."

"Why can't I pick them up?"

"I called the dibs first, bro." Elliot exclaimed smugly, punching his chest proudly like an orangutan. Christian rolled his eyes.

"First come first serve?"

"I'll bet you're regretting not spending more time with our parents."

"I'd rather spend them with Ana, since she's leaving soon, but fine, we'll take whoever you want us to take out."

"We?" Grace sort of knew what he was going to say but just to be sure.

"Yes, Anastasia and I. We want to spend the last few months together. In case you don't know, she's going to the other side of the country."

Christian was starting to get angry for being reminded of their nearing departure time, he wanted to come up with a reason so he didn't have to see her off, and right now the best excuse he had thought of right now was to go on a business trip to Asia.

But, Flynn told him of the impact that it might have on Anastasia, so he didn't bring that idea up with her yet. He knew he had to go to the airport with her and see her get on his jet, he just didn't want to come back to an empty house.

...

JULY 2013

It was the Fourth of July and he could still remember the conversation between his teenage cousin who was beyond impressed by his wealth with his girlfriend a few days ago.

The girl was texting all day long, and it had got on his nerves quite a few times but he had convinced himself and Anastasia that it wasn't their business.

"What if her parents asked what she did and she can't say a single thing?"

"Then that's her problem."

"But parents don't usually know those antics of their kids."

"It's still her problem."

"Yeah, but I know the kind of parents that she has. They're going to blame us regardless of their daughter's behavior. They thought their girl was perfect, and maybe she is, in front of them."

"Were you a virgin, Ana?" Their whisper argument was interrupted by the girl sitting at the back of the SUV still typing on her phone and giggling at whatever response.

"Huh?"

"Were you a virgin before you met my cousin?"

"No," she answered simply.

"You looked really inexperienced for a girl who's had a boyfriend before."

"First, how did you know that I've dated before? And, how did you know that I was inexperienced? I wasn't dating you the last time I checked." She bit, because she was annoyed by even the thought of this girl's parents. She had only met them once when they dropped her off to Christian and her but she had already caught their vibe.

"You really are impolite."

"I'm not rude though." She wanted to tell her that she didn't need to be polite to someone unimportant to her, but that was rude.

"Oh, I know this, you're going to say that you're just being witty."

"For a doctor, I kind of have to be."

"Do you do anything other than study?" She rolled her eyes and scoffed like those teenage girls who thought they ruled the world.

"Yeah, I dissect human beings."

"Oh, you think saying that is cool?"

"It doesn't matter what I think doesn't it, what do you think?"

Christian was trying too hard not to laugh while driving, but his sentiments toward this girl and her parents were not far from Anastasia's. He just didn't have the patience to waste time like Anastasia was doing. He would've snapped instantly.

"My boyfriend..." and Anastasia zones out, this was all the girl said and she didn't even know that she might've been taken advantage of.

"Look kid, just grow up. I was a teenager once and I once dated my high school crush, so you don't have to act like I'm some stereotypical nerd who doesn't have a life, because quite frankly, you need to get one. All you talk about is your boyfriend, all you do is text on your phone, possibly to your boyfriend, but when you start to give up everything for a boy, you're going to realize that it's too late already. Even if I was a nerd, very little people get through college without losing their virginity."

"I don't need you to lecture me."

"I'm not, what makes you think I like to lecture people?"

"You just did."

"That is simply speaking from experience. I'm not warning you about anything, I'm just making an observation."

The girl snorted but they had already arrived at their destination, the Space Needle. To finish the task that was assigned to the couple, they mapped out the most common tourist route.

"If you like, you can even find yourself splashed across the internet later in the day."

She stared at her, appearing to be uninterested but Anastasia knew she had gotten her attention.

"So,"Anastasia continued. "If you want to look good in front of the cameras and maybe forge some proof to your parents that you've been sight seeing, I suggest you get off your phone. Your boyfriend isn't going to reply in an instant anyway."

"My parents don't care."

"Okay. Even so, you need to look good for the camera because they aren't going to be high quality and most are taken by camera phones. There's only a few professional around."

Christian all but laughed at that comment. He pretended to look at his phone and laugh at the dark screen, but Anastasia knew he was laughing at the conversation. Truth was, he had already gotten an alert telling him that they had been spotted and speculations had already begun.

"What are you laughing about?" She nudged him gently, prodding him out of his inner musing. He thought he wasn't that obvious.

"Your conversation with my dreadful cousin."

"Yeah, she's something. One of a kind."

"No, she isn't. Her mind is all over. _You_ are one of a kind." He leaned down to capture her lips and she didn't protest one bit.

"The fireworks is starting," she mumbled against his lips when she felt everyone shuffling out of the room.

"They're just trying to give us space," he excused lamely not wanting to end the kiss ever because he knew that after tonight, he wouldn't be able to hold her and kiss her like he did in the past year.

"We need to find a good spot for it."

"There is the perfect spot, reserved just for us."

He pulled away slightly disappointed. He could feel that she was no longer in the mood for smooching and making out, so he led her up the stairs, in the opposite direction of everyone else who all went outside.

"Where are we going?" Her question was answered when they entered his childhood bedroom which was on the top floor of the Grey mansion and he led her to the rope ladder which was hanging down from the corner of his ceiling. He told her that it led to an attic, his attic, but she had never been up there. It had always been his sanctuary.

"I'll follow you," he motioned her to go up and she did, pushing the trap door open as she went.

"Wow," she couldn't help but voice.

The attic was a small triangular space with nothing much in it but a floor board and a shelf. It was spacious and cozy especially with the ceiling being made out of glass.

"I love this place."

"I would sleep here if it wasn't for the light in the morning. The glass was the strongest and also prevents UV light from entering, so this place wouldn't heat up."

"I would, too." She whispered, still mesmerized by her surroundings.

"Stay with me here tonight, then." He asked hopefully and she nodded delightfully.

They sat down against the wall and stared out the glass ceiling, the fireworks show had started but he couldn't feel the same excitement that he would feel each year.

Anastasia was clearly feeling the same because after the first round, she laid her head on his shoulder and hugged him close as she said.

"Can we make a pact?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	5. I Want To Take You Out

_**I Want To Take You Out**_

_"Can we make a pact?"_

Christian was startled by her request by the tension that radiated off of him. The silence from him made her lift her head to look at him. The fireworks were still going on in the background but they couldn't hear a thing.

"How?" He whispered, his eyes looked longing as he stared out the window at the fireworks that was now dull to him.

"Will you look at me, please?" She pleaded in his ear softly and her arms hugged his torso tighter.

He turned and tried to keep the hollowness out of his eyes but he knew he couldn't prevent her from seeing anything once she took a look at his eyes.

"I'm leaving in a week but that doesn't mean we can't see each other again."

"Can we do long distance?" He all but begged despite already knowing the answer would be negative.

"Christian," she closed her eyes to stop the tears from flowing out, her eyes were already glossy and she didn't want him to see it. "Knowing our personalities, long distance will only put more strain on our relationship and I don't want us to end up hating one another."

"Not being with you is what is straining me."

"No, Christian, you don't understand. Think, please. If we do long distance and we can't bear it, we will get frustrated and end up blaming the other for not paying enough attention or too little visit. This is what ruins a relationship, a friendship, any sort of companionship the fastest."

She was staring at the side of his face most of the time and she couldn't help but be marveled at his appearances. This handsome face was now pleading her to not break up with him and she knew that he was an even more beautiful guy on the inside.

"I just need you to promise me something, Christian." She was trying to be strong by taking a breath because she knew it was tearing Christian apart that she insisted on breaking up with him.

"Anything," he whispered but that even came out strangled. He had used up all of his optimistic energy in the past few months after knowing that she'd leave him eventually.

"Promise me that you will wait for me," she asked. "Promise me that you will wait for me to establish an independent reputation for myself on the East Coast and I will come back to Seattle. I will come back for you, I promise, but can you promise me that you're going to wait for me?"

Christian sighed, resting his forehead on his bended knee. His arm was still wrapped around her and she was still hugging him.

So many what ifs and doubts were running through his head. He was going to wait for her for sure but what if she didn't want him anymore. There was no way of knowing when would she have an independent reputation. He didn't know why she insisted on going to the East Coast, the medical system there was already too advance. He could understand if she was only going there for residency training but she had done that on the West Coast.

"I want to make a pact, because I want to pick up from where we left off two years later." She continued, seemingly determined to change his mind about waiting for him.

He knew she would keep her promise but he didn't want her to feel obliged to enter a relationship with him when she didn't want to in the future.

"I understand your hesitance, Christian, but can we try?" She beseeched, sitting up a little straighter so she could force him to face her.

"What are your terms?" The moment he saw her pleading look, he crumbled, uncurling his legs he pulled her into his lap and cuddled her close to his chest.

"We will pour everything we have into our career for the next two years and we will get back together and settle down. In this two years time, we will keep in contact and do everything couples do but just without the pressure of having to maintain a romantic relationship. We will each set a goal for ourselves to achieve and once we achieved it, we can get each other as our prize."

"What is your goal?"

"To become one of the highest paid and regarded anesthesiologist in the East Cost. We are both too young to fully commit to a relationship, and I don't want either of us to give up our career or alter our life plans just because we met one another. Let's wait two years. We are too young to make a serious commitment like that."

He didn't like the way she talked about their level of commitment, because he was all in but he just didn't want to scare her off by saying it, and now he felt like she was slipping through his fingers because he wasn't grasping on to her tight enough.

"What will your goal be?"

"To make you stay with me."

"Career wise, Christian." She knew her insistence on leaving would make him feel like his future was clouded, but she needed to know that she was able to be independent before she was able to give herself to him completely. There was no guarantee that they'd work out forever and she knew better than to depend on someone for the rest of her life.

"I don't have one," he answered flatly. His resolves were diminishing because all he could think about at the moment was that the love of his life was leaving him for the other side of the country and he wasn't able to touch her, hold her or wake up to her for the next two years, suppose she still remembered him.

She sighed into him, she knew how he felt because she felt the same. The only reason why she was able to remain calm was because she saw a clear future with him in it, but he couldn't.

"Christian," she needed to persuade him to be part of this scheme or else it wouldn't work. She needed his support. "Do you know why I am so calm?"

"Because you don't... care for me like I do you."

She cradled his head upon hearing his words. They had been avoiding any kind of confession of their feelings but he couldn't hold it back anymore, they both knew how they felt about each other yet neither of them had the courage to voice it out loud knowing the consequences.

"You're wrong, Christian. I do care for you, very much." There was no holding back now, she needed him to understand that she had a clear vision of their life down the years. "I care for you so much, which is why I'm asking you to wait for me. I need to know that you'll still be there when I know that I won't lose myself to you."

"Why can't we stay together? Because you're afraid that you're going to lose yourself to me?" He huffed almost angrily but she knew it was sadness.

"I'm afraid that I'll become too attached to you. When we first started dating, I was under the impression that you only needed me to play the part and you would go back to your previous lifestyle after the spotlight shifted. I agreed because I only needed a sponsor who was willing to let me push the budget just a little."

"You had no budget limit," he mumbled but that wasn't the point. "You think I'm only using you? I came clean to you about every single sordid detail of my life and you're still questioning my intention. I should be hurt by that accusation but right now nothing hurts more than knowing you don't want to be with me."

"I do want to be with you. I do really badly. But we need to establish ourselves in the society first before we can become one. Christian, you are already on Forbes' People to Watch consecutively, you have a foundation but I don't. Not in my area of profession. I wasn't questioning your intention, I was just confused."

"Are you still… confused?" That explanation was something he could understand because he didn't exactly send her the clearest signal when it came to their relationship.

"No," she shook her head immediately. "Not anymore. I have a crystal clear vision of us and our future."

"What do you see?" He hid his face in her hair, unable to look at her sparkling blue eyes any longer. It would haunt him in his sleep for sure.

"I see you as the next billionaire in the country slaying the business world, expanding your branches world wide. And I will be by your side every time you reach a milestone."

"What about your dream and your career?"

"I hope I will be just as successful as you in the medical world." The confidence in her voice when she talked about him vanished.

"You know what I see?"

She shook her head.

"I see the next renowned doctor leading the next generation, and whatever you want to research on, I will be the one to sponsor you. You will be the best doctor that anyone can ask for."

She snuggled closer to him as if their skin wasn't already touching.

"My goal is to become a global enterprise that is worth multibillion dollar in two years before I'm thirty."

She wasn't sure what to think because if she was assuming, then he had just agreed to her pact but she wasn't sure.

"I agree to your pact, because I want a future for us." He kissed her hair repeatedly just to convey his love and affection for her. "Even though I don't understand your insistence on splitting up, if this means we can be together then I will agree with you."

"We will keep in contact and visit whenever we have time."

"What do we say to everyone?"

"We're friends."

"No, I hate that word."

"Then tell them whatever you like."

"Okay, you'll be my fiancée."

"What?" Anastasia shot away from his embrace. "Christian," she shook her head at him telling him no. "Don't be like that."

"What do you want me to say? My lover?"

She nodded.

"Why can't I just say you're my girlfriend?"

"You can also say that."

"But we're actually not a couple." He finished the sentence for her, he was slowly grasping her intentions and he didn't understand her even though he knew what she was saying. He didn't agree because he thought there must be another way.

She nodded warily, fearing his reaction.

"Mom, she's been dating my brother for a year now and I still haven't hang out with her yet. Elliot and Kate were only together for a few weeks and I've already went shopping with Kate countless of times."

They froze in their spot and both pair of eyes went automatically to the trap door near them. They could see the door of his bedroom but not much peripheral.

They saw his door being knocked and pushed open, Mia walked in closely followed by Grace who flicked the lights on.

"What if we were in bed fucking?" Anastasia whispered, she was still in his lap and their heads were literally touching.

"We would definitely lock the door, I don't think we're that stupid."

"We are when we're both horny as fuck."

Christian laughed quietly next to her and she could feel his body shaking. She turned around to look at him just in time to be attacked by his lips.

"Mia, you know that Christian hates it when you walk into his room."

"It's not like I'm snooping around. I just want to find them. They aren't even at the fireworks. Christian wouldn't miss that for anything especially now that it would a romantic gesture for Ana. Have you seen him with her?" Mia rambled but followed Grace out of the room after flicking the lights off when she saw no trace of living human beings in the room.

Grace shot her a look but she didn't see it and she kept going on and on about how cute and sweet her brother's relationship with Anastasia was. Her voice faded down the hall and Anastasia laughed after she was sure that they were out of ear shot.

"Do you want to go out with my sister?"

"No, I have a boyfriend, why would I go out with your sister?"

He laughed, pushing her off of him so he could lay down on the makeshift bed made out of an air-mattress and some cushions. He opened his arms and she crawled to him, settling in his arms without having to be asked twice.

"You better remember that you have me, yeah?" He half joked, poking her nose, moving his arm so she could use it as a pillow and she snuggled even closer.

"Always," she giggled. Her eyes fell on his nose and she had a sudden urge to bite on it so she did all the while giggling even louder.

"What are you doing, baby?" Christian wanted to laugh at her but he didn't know what she was doing. It was unexpected but he liked the closeness.

"I don't know," she giggled and he didn't want her to stop that. "Just thought maybe your nose is in the way."

"In the way to what?" He wiggled his eye brows suggestively. "You just want to kiss me but imagine me without a nose, I don't think you'd want to even look at me let alone kiss me."

"I do want to kiss you, it's all I think about."

"No wonder you've failed so many times in the lab."

She giggled even louder because she had told him all about her failures and projects that she failed because she made a stupid mistake.

"Yeah, your face is a distraction, and I can't focus so naturally those experiments failed. I mean, maybe I'll end up making recreational drugs instead of pain killers. Oh... I'll be so rich."

"And in jail," he deadpanned the smile fading from his face. He hated that she was so close to chemicals every day and her research was close to recreational drugs because it was addictive.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought about doing it if I didn't have you to sponsor me because it's the quickest and easiest way to get money."

"You're kidding," he pinned her down on the mattress in an instant and his tone stern. "You know how much I hate drugs, so why did you even mention them?"

"I'm sorry," she apologized in a small voice contritely.

"Look at me," he requested softly, nudging her nose with his gently. She shook her head refusing to face him. "Baby," he coaxed. "I'm not mad," she nodded but still not looking at him. "I want see you, please."

She turned her head slowly and the moment their eyes met, he leaned down to kiss her. She moaned when his tongue massaged hers and she could feel his hands roaming down her body stopping at her breast, kneading her thighs.

"Do you want to go shopping with Mia?"

"No," she breathed, her hands thrusting into his hair not wanting him to stop his assault on her neck and clavicle. "I want to spend my last week here with you. Preferably with you inside of me, but I know we can't."

"We can," he growled. "If that's what you want then it's what we'll do."

"Christian, we're not breaking up."

"We're not?" He shot up, stopping every movement.

"Well…" she bit her lip nervously.

"That's what I thought," he muttered darkly before lowering himself to her once again. "Stop thinking and make love to me, Ana." His request alone was enough to make her give up any thoughts plaguing her mind.

…

"What day are you leaving?" He asked inaudibly, his face buried in between her naked breasts. They were still connected simply because he didn't want to pull out of her, he just want to be connected to her for as long as he could before he had to let her go to the other side of the country.

"The end of next week, probably," she threaded her fingers in his hair and her other hand was running up and down his bare back sensually.

"Can I persuade you to take my jet?"

"I thought you said you're going on a business trip next week, too."

"I'm flying commercial, and it would make me feel so much more secure if you take my jet."

"Okay," she didn't want to argue with him, she just wanted to spend the rest of the time they had together like a real couple. "You have to be careful, though."

"I will," his chest warmed at the thought of someone caring about his safety and wellbeing like he cared for her. "I promise I will have Taylor with me wherever I go."

"When are you leaving then?"

"The same day as you."

She frowned confused because she hadn't even decide which day would be her last day here.

He sighed, feeling it was time to confess. "I don't want to see you leave and then come back to the penthouse with no one waiting for me. It's lonely, and it would remind me of my heartache all the time. So, I'm boarding a plane after seeing you take off, I will be gone for a long while. It's a trip that Ros suggested that I take but I've never wanted to take."

"Where are you going off to then?" She could understand his feelings and if it were her, she would've done just the same to avoid that same voidness.

"Asia. We're trying to expand to Japan first."

She didn't know what to think of it, but she'd like to think this wasn't something set in stone.

"Will you come back?"

"For visits or moving back?"

"Both," he shifted his position so she could lay on top of his chest and him on his back.

"I will definitely be coming back to visit. My parents are still in Washington and I don't think you're going to move anytime soon."

"You'd come visit me?"

"Why do you sound so surprised? Of course I'll come back for you. I asked you to wait for me to be ready for Christ sake, Christian. I didn't tell you that I really do care about you just to hurt you."

"Will you move back?"

"Eventually, probably. I won't be staying on the East Coast for a long time."

"What are your plans?"

"I plan on going to the East Coast to study and perhaps I can come back if there's an offer that's suitable and appealing enough for me."

"Should I bribe someone to offer you a tempting job?"

"Christian!" She scolded, hitting him on the back. "You're not going to do anything to get me a job here just so I can stay here permanently."

"I don't mind you staying in Seattle permanently."

"I know you don't mind because then you get to have me every day."

"You're spot on."

"I'm not finished," she reprimanded him again but this time jokingly. "If I'm successful enough or well respected like your mother, then I guess I'll come back. I mean the medical ability on the West Coast isn't too bad either."

"Personally," Christian's tone sounded like he meant business. "I think you'll have a greater opportunity here than in the East, because it's already really advance around the area that you're going. Your contribution here might be more profound."

"You just want me to come back."

"No, I'm serious, you should think about it."

She nodded, indicating that she would consider it but she wouldn't make any decisions any time soon.

"Good, now I want to ask you something."

"Yeah?"

"Will you accept it if I give you carte blanc to my jet?"

"Christian," she shook her head ferociously.

"Why not?" He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice but he knew when it came to her, he was as straightforward as an open book.

"You're going to need it more than I do. Besides, I'm only going to fly between Seattle and Baltimore, I can just book the same flight."

"I can buy another jet."

"Do you have the money?"

"I will," he was just a millionaire at the moment but he was determined to thrive in his area of business and become the next multi-billionaire just like the world and Anastasia had predicted.

"Well, until you've got that jet, I won't take your only one. I'm not going to be the one that travels a lot between the two of us, so just leave your company jet with your company. Besides, I know you're going to find other ways to force me to accept your jet before you actually earned another."

He knew she got that right again, so he just grinned at her shyly. She bit her lip at his expression, it was one of the many that could seduce her easily.

"You've got me," she giggled and pressed her lips to his. She could feel him smirking against her lips.

"Let me ride you," she requested and he wanted nothing more than to let her, so he nodded.

…

Mia wanted to go on a shopping spree the next day and Kate was invited so now she wanted Anastasia to participate.

"Let's do a girls' day. Kate already said she's going to be there."

"Kate?" Anastasia nearly let her knife drop out of her hand at her sudden jerk of her head along with Elliot's. She still had no idea what happened between them and what they were, she had been spending way too much time with Christian.

"I called her last night. She and Elliot broke up but she's still my friend."

"Won't that make it awkward?" Christian commented halfheartedly, taking the knife from Anastasia hand and wiped the remaining peanut butter sauce onto his bread as if that was the most natural thing in the world.

"Christian!" Mia tried to kick him under the table but couldn't reach him since he was sitting diagonally to her. He shrugged, placing the knife back into Anastasia's hand and bringing her other hand up so he could have a bite of her already buttered toast. After a few chews, he had decided that his peanut butter one tastes much better.

Anastasia turned her head to look at him and he thought he had been caught red-handed, he was waiting for her to yell at him when she just placed the toast in her hand on to his plate before reaching for half a bagel.

"Ana," Mia got her attention again just before she could spread a knife full of cream cheese onto her freshly baked bagel. "Are you going? I told Kate that you'd come and even she said she'd call you herself to persuade you."

Anastasia still looked hesitant, her eyes were actually on Elliot because she was trying to make sense of what he and her best friend were. She wasn't even sure they liked each other past sex.

Christian could see that she was bothered by quite a few things and in her occupied state she had forgotten about her breakfast. Leaning over he took the knife and the bagel and started to spread cream cheese on it just the way she liked it, a thick layer evenly spread.

Elliot was now looking at Anastasia with a questioning gaze, he was aware of the calculating and analytical stare coming from her but he still couldn't understand the reason behind the inquisition.

"Eat," Christian nudged her elbow lightly and held the bagel up to her mouth.

"Thanks," she finally broke her gaze from Elliot and decided that she should probably get the answer out of Kate. "Oh," she looked down at the bagel and just noticed that it had been covered with cream cheese and strips of salmon just like she usually had.

When his eyes met hers, the appreciation, affection and happiness shining from her eyes could never be forgotten by him. Especially when she pecked him on his crumbs covered lips, he was once again reassured that she was the one in his life, and he would wait for her for however long it would take her.

"Are you going with Mia?" He asked her gently reminding her that she still hadn't given an answer to his sister yet.

"Can you come, too?" She lowered her voice not wanting to sound too clingy in front his family.

"I'll be fine, Mia said it's a girls day. You go and enjoy."

"Are you going to work today?" She eyed him suspiciously knowing that if she wasn't there he'd bury himself in work.

"Yeah."

"Go hangout with them," he encouraged.

She stared, her mouth chewing the bite carefully.

"Will you come with me?"

This time it was his turn to stare.

"I want to hangout with you," she clarified, swallowing the food. The way she held the food in front of her mouth as her cheeks puffed up after a big bite was an expression that would make Christian succumb to any and every request. She looked like an adorable chipmunk. "Can we go shopping together?" She stores the food to the side temporarily and mumbled at him, her eyes enlarged radiating off hope and innocence.

"Okay," he agreed softly, there was no way he would reject her after that face.

"Mia," Anastasia finally got her answer. "I'm sorry but I kind of want to hangout with Christian," she cringed at the sound of it, and she was about to elaborate so she wouldn't hurt the girl since she heard first hand how much she wanted to spend time with her brother's girlfriend.

"Aww... that is so sweet," Mia cooed at the couple making Anastasia want to shrink into her seat even more with her bagel.

"I didn't tell them about Maryland," Christian whispered in her ear, which didn't do anything to her confusion. She was still mystified by Mia's reaction, she was expecting the girl to be offended or at least would beg her or something.

"Don't make Kate call me," Anastasia muttered but everyone around the table caught it, apparently she had said it too loud.

Elliot groaned and Mia smirked. "No, she won't. Besides, you're going to be my sister in law in no time, so I'll have plenty of time to hangout with you."

"Who gave you that impression?" Anastasia's eyebrows shot to the sky, her eyes darted between every member of the family before landing on Christian.

"He certainly did," Mia fueled, liking the couple's quarrel.

Anastasia glared at him one last time before returning to her bagel, she could see Christian pretending to cower under her glower but was actually smug about planting that seed into his family's head. She could just imagine how they looked in front of his family just with the previous show down. They appeared so domestic without looking at their fingers one could assume that they were a married couple.

"I swear Christian Grey, you're going to be kicked out of bed tonight."

"As if," he smirked back at his girlfriend.

"Fine, you won't even be sleeping next to me."

"What felony have I committed?" He exclaimed. "By giving them a false impression? That wasn't false."

She sighed face palming.

"You know what?" She was aware of the attention they had received from the entire table. "Let me take you out."

"What?"

"I want to take you out."

"And strip me of my manhood? No thank you very much."

Anastasia giggled at his deadpan, it was true that he was a fan of male chauvinism.

"I want to take you out on a date."

"Why am I getting a little skeptical at this request?" He narrowed his eyes at her playfully and scooted his chair slightly away from her, making her giggle louder.

"Hey, come on, baby. Come back," she stopped giggling only because she was suppressing it. "Come back to me," she coaxed with a finger. "Just let me take you out, it's going to be fun. Like Pike Place."

His eyes lit up at the fond memories of that impromptu date, the result of his sorry excuse to see her.

"Okay."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	6. The Other Way Around

_**The Other Way Around**_

"Will you ever reconsider the pact?"

"Actually, I think we should put it this way."

"I'm listening."

"We are going return to the status that we had before everything becomes heated. We are too young to put our lives on hold for love, even though I am a firm believer that I won't marry for money but only for love. So, since we all have a goal for our career, we are going to _reevaluate_ our relationship in two years time."

"Until then, what are we?"

"Friends, we are just friends."

"Even in public."

"If no one asks then yes, if the media asked then we tell them what we keep telling them. We just need to make sure that they don't get ahold of our split because that's drama and it's what we're trying to avoid."

...

"Are we going to the same mall as them?" Christian asked when they got into the car. He was going out on a date with her tomorrow and Mia left a few hours ago, right after breakfast to go meet up with Kate.

"Nah," Anastasia thought about her tenacious friend. "Let's just keep it between us."

"So, where do you want to go?"

She shrugged, grabbing his phone from his hand and started to look at places near them because she knew which area Mia and Kate was going to be at, and she kind of want to avoid them and spend some peaceful quality time with her boyfriend.

"Do you want a rehash of Pike Place?" He teased from the side when she scrolled through pages of recommendations that popped up.

She shook her head distractedly but that was enough indication to tell Christian that she wasn't in the mood for fun but more looking forward to a romantic day out. He was fine with whatever she wanted and a romantic stroll sounded perfect to him.

"You know what?" She locked the phone and stuffed it back to his pocket casually, patting his chest to get his attention even though it was already on her. "Let's just walk around and see where we end up at."

He was all up for that idea, any time spent with her was worth it. He needed to make the most out of her remaining time in Washington, because the thing he dreaded the most was when he visited her only to realize that he was no longer welcomed.

"Is that a mall?" She pointed to a tall building down the road with signs.

"Looks like one, we can go check it out."

And, they did just that. Hand in hand, they found themselves in a small mall with little shoppers given that it wasn't located in the city center. They were in Bellevue and the girls went all the way to Seattle this morning.

"This place looks like it's loaded," she squealed delightfully earning a grin from her man who now had his arm over her shoulder. "Are you buying something? Looking for anything?"

"Are you kidding me, baby? Have you seen my closet?" He jested, patting her cheek with the hand over her shoulder affectionately for asking that adorable question.

"Well, methinks you need addition."

"I hate to break it to you, honey, but I think you just want to spend my money." He leaned over to whisper into her ear teasingly.

She giggled and glanced back at him. "You got me there, but then again, you're buying your own clothes, and I'm going to be your personal shopper today." She grinned feeling confident about her non-negotiable agreement.

He followed her to the top floor and the very first shop that caught her eye was Zara. It wasn't the men's suits that caught her attention initially but the big red sign that said 'discount'.

"We need to check this out," she decided, dragging a very reluctant Christian into the place. Upon seeing his look of immense displeasure she suddenly remembered the identity and status of the man she was dating. "Oh, shit," she stammered, halting in her tracks and standing in front of him to gauge his reaction. "I totally forgot who you are," she admitted sheepishly.

"I know," he replied softly. This place was way out of his comfort zone but he loved it because being with Anastasia would always make him forget who he was to the public. "It's okay, I'll get used to it."

She nodded cautiously but her eyes were still on him, as if she could sense that he wasn't finished voicing his thoughts.

"Please don't tell me you're planning on buying anything from this shop."

"I know it's not the brand that you usually wear," she started and soon noticed that if she didn't stop she would start to ramble, so she shut herself when she got the chance. "No, I'm not."

When she settled for that promise, he visibly relaxed and allowed to be tugged around by the hand, following her as she ran her hands through the materials.

"I like this one," she stopped, holding up a black button down shirt with the hook still connected. She darted her eyes around them and was grateful that they were left on their own and no one had recognized her boyfriend.

"I have multiple tailored ones," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I've seen them all, I know." She replied dismissively, still emulating the shirt against his upper torso appearing like a wife selecting an outfit for her husband to the first day of work. "You don't wear them often and I just want to see how they look on you."

"Do you want me to model it for you now?" Even if he hated this cheap brand, cheap material and this cheap process, he would still want to indulge her in her fun.

"Yes!" She took the shirt off of the wrack and pulled him into the nearest changing room. "Paws off," she swatted away the hands that reached for the collar of his polo shirt that he was wearing for the day and started to undo the buttons herself.

"I can't even undress myself?" He chuckled.

"Nope, you're my model today. Now, hands up." He complied and she pulled the polo off of him by the hem. "Put your hands through the sleeves," she ordered, helping him with the shirt. "Perfect," she praised.

Leaving the top three buttons open, she smoothed down the length of the shirt and patted the buttons, then gestured him to twirl around, he did albeit struggling a little in the tight space.

"I like it," her eyes glinted with delight. "You should start wearing the black ones more often at home when I'm around."

_So, it's decided then, I guess._ He thought to himself.

"What the wife says, the wife gets, huh?"

"Yup, I'm glad you got that right. Many men learned it the hard way, ya know?" She jested playing along.

_Oh, how I wish we're married._ He couldn't stop that thought from flashing across his mind but luckily he didn't voice it out loud.

"Okay, take it off and put this back on," she bent down and retrieved the discarded polo shirt he was wearing and waited for him to change back.

"What next?"

"We're going to another shop."

"Okay, which one?" He quickly pull the polo back on and she opened the door of the stall.

"That," she pointed at a Sephora.

"I thought you don't use cosmetics."

"I don't, but a girl needs to have some backup."

Rolling his eyes, he followed suit.

"Christian," her tone made him wary of her request. It was a tone that he found it hard to resist but also the content that came along with it was something that he's definitely not agree with if he was in control of his own mind.

"Yeah, baby?" He approached her cautiously.

"Which color do you like?" On her hand were two swatches of metallic themed eyeliner. He would've said that none of them looked good but he would get kicked in the balls for sure if he actually commented out loud.

"Do you like them both?"

She nodded, still admiring the swatches on the back of her hand. She would usually avoid answering a question like that because it was a bait. He would somehow convince her to have them all when she couldn't decide.

"I'm not buying anything," she suddenly noticed where this was going. "So, which one?"

He sighed, this tactic wouldn't get him anywhere unless she really wanted to have something. This girl was hard to convince and he had learned it the hard way multiple times. He didn't learn nothing about her from a year's relationship.

His eyes darted from the colors to her eyes and back, mentally forming the image of the colors around her eyes.

"The blue green one matches your eyes but the I like the gray one better, its darker and it brings out your eyes."

"I knew it," she giggled.

He sneezed as they moved along the aisle and that was what reminded her to check which section she had entered.

"Hey, look, Christian!" She called out not even turning back because he was literally hot on her heels, right behind her. "There's perfume for men."

"What, you think the cologne I use doesn't smell good?"

"I liked your cologne and aftershave, but if I find another scent that I think will suit you better, would you use it?"

"Only if you think that smells good on me," he answered her sincerely. He'd make possibly any changes to himself as long as she approved.

"Perfect!" She exclaimed, ditching Sephora altogether and sprinted to the store front that she had only eyed from afar but never dared to enter because it was too luxurious for her to afford. Now that she had a millionaire tailing behind her who was willing to purchase anything she thought fitted him, she was encouraged.

"Where are you going?" It took him a few moment to fall into steps with her.

"Armani. For colognes."

…

In the lobby of the GEH building, Anastasia leaned against the front desk and witnessed with her own eyes just how many fans her boyfriend had that wanted to see him in person. The people behind the front desk had recognized her and had asked her time and time again if she wanted to go up to her boyfriend, but she declined.

"Grey Enterprise Holdings Front Desk, how should I direct your call?" The blonde woman said into the headset while her eyes were glued to the screen of an iMac.

The other woman came back from the back of the room with a few pages printed and was now talking with the other guy in suit about his appointment. Anastasia swore she could learn how to be a receptionist at GEH just by standing at this lobby waiting for Christian to finish. It was already past five and he said he'd finish early for her since she needed to go to the lab and then prepare for their date.

Anastasia was pretending to be on her phone, but she really was interested in their job in actuality and she wanted to chat with them about their work just to know it better.

With nothing to do, she contemplated on calling Kate to grill her about her Elliot situation and her sudden decision to go to New York, presumably moving there. But her fingers led her to the takeout app.

She sighed again when she checked the time and fifteen minutes had already past. She thought she was going to be late by arriving right on the clock, but he was even later than her.

She had already texted him about being late and he didn't even reply.

As she scrolled through the takeout app and talked with the receptionist who was rattling off recommendations to her as she checked them out one by one, she felt him. She saw the two blondes behind the desk tense a little so she knew he was here walking in their direction. She paid no attention to him on purpose, splaying an arm out to stretch.

She felt her arm being grabbed and wrapped around his waist before feeling his breath tickling down the side of her face and his arms snaking around her.

"You're late, Christian." She didn't look up from the browsing but patted his chest with the free hand.

"I know, and I'm sorry." He apologized contritely, burying his face in her hair and taking a peak at what she was looking at. "Will you please just look at me so I can kiss you?"

She shook her head. "What was the place you said again? For fried chicken or something." She pokes the blonde who gave her a list of good places for food and snacks.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Christian muttered when he saw what she was looking for, he had been forbidding her any unhealthy food from the restaurants, only what Gail made could past his scrutiny.

With her arm still clung to his neck and his around her waist, he hurled her up causing her to yelp in surprise as her other arm found his neck and him twirling her around. Her yelps were silenced immediately with his mouth on hers.

"Now, where are you taking me?" He set her down, still breathing dangerously close to her face.

"You don't get to ask, because you're late." She poked his nose and spun out of his arms, leaving their hands intertwined.

In the bubble that he had just created, she had failed to notice how the passerby in entire lobby stopped what they're doing and stared.

"Okay," he nodded, it was a fair request. "I'll follow you anywhere you go."

"How romantic," she snorted even though she was melting on the inside at his words. "I'm taking you home."

"Home? Are you seriously feeding me takeout?" He positioned himself behind her with his hands intertwined with both of hers on either side and they waddled toward the car.

"No, because you're late, everything's on you tonight. You're paying for _everything_."

"Oh," Christian laughed, he was prepared to be the one clearing the bills simply because he forgot that she was the one that asked him out on a date, not the other way around.

"You're going home to change into the clothes I found you while I get to watch you. Then, we're going somewhere. We're going to try those restaurants next time when we want a day in."

...

Obviously going to a carnival wasn't what Christian had in mind when he agreed to a date with Anastasia, but given that he was dressed in a t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans completed with a pair of simple converse, it really didn't give away his shocked reaction.

"Enough of that sappy shit, we're supposed to be happy, remember?" Anastasia had been reprimanding him for bringing up their relationship and she had banned him from defining what they were.

_"If you don't stop thinking about what we are, I'm not going to tell you I love you every time we talk."_

That was what she said and it was what she did, so he immediately followed her orders and stopped bringing up the sad times.

"Why a carnival?" He wanted to laugh and at the same time, he wanted to turn around from the loudness.

"Why not?"

He hated it when she give him that kind of reply but there was nothing he could do about it. He loved her and he wouldn't change anything about her, personality wise.

"How long do you plan on spending here?"

"Christian, you didn't hear me asking you that when you asked me out on our first date, right?" He shook his head. "So, you don't get to ask that question either. Just behave."

He shook his head but shut his mouth, this woman would be the death of him.

"Hey, look, a cutie is sniffing our feet." She giggled pointing at a stray near their feet.

"It looks like a pure breed," he commented but subconsciously pulling them away, he didn't want them to get infected with whatever the dog was carrying.

"A St. Bernard? It can't be."

"Perhaps it ran out of a shelter?"

Anastasia squatted down after hearing that suggestion from Christian, she was determined to get to know this fluffy animal better.

"You truly didn't change."

"What do you mean?" She looked up briefly only to find Christian on the same level beside her, but he wasn't touching the dog.

"Remember you keep asking your friends if you look like a dog and you keep wanting to be a dog when you were young? Actually, until you're deep in elementary school."

"Oh my god," she could feel her face heating up with embarrassment, it was the most awkward story that she had ever heard about herself when her parents shared it with her boyfriend. Careful not to touch him with her hand, she shoved his shoulder backward with her forehead. "Christian, stop bringing it up. Stop reminding me of how stupid I was."

"I'm just saying, you loved dogs then and you love them now. See? You're naturally good with them." He nodded at the dog who nudged closer to her hand after giving it a good sniff.

"It can't be more than two months old," she petted its head, still unable to determine the gender since its stomach was covered with fur. "Come here, little cutie," she cooed and pulled the puppy a little closer to them. "Do you have a collar?" She felt around its neck, shaking her head.

"Should we call for someone to pick it up?"

"We can go buy him something first, he must be hungry."

Christian knew better than to argue with her especially when it came to a dog.

"He's too small, maybe we should buy him a bottle of milk?" Anastasia kept glancing back at the puppy that was hot on her heels. She wanted to carry it but Christian forbade her.

"Milk then," he agreed heading toward a small convenience store. "I'll go in, you can stay here with him." He told her, pecking her on the lips in replacement of a declaration of love.

Little did they know they were already being caught on camera just like they were during their shopping spree, minus the money spending part, but since the deal they had a year ago, they had gotten used to media attention as long as they weren't intrusive, or negatively impacting their career.

"Here, it's enough right?" He held out a box of milk for children to her and she pried the straw off kneeling down next to the dog and squeezing sips out of the box and into her hand so it could lick.

When the little puppy had licked the entire box clean, he wagged his tail at them as if thanking them for providing him food. Anastasia smiled back and petted his head.

"I think it's a He," she muttered while ruffling his ear and neck. "Okay, little buddy, you're going to the vet later."

"Who's going to bring him to the vet then?" Christian asked once Anastasia stood back up as he urged her to go wash her hands with soap.

She shrugged, never thought about the question. "Us?"

"Yeah, right, I can tell that you're in the mood for this carnival and not some dog sitting duty."

She shrugged again, he knew her too well so she wouldn't even bother to hide her true feelings. "We can still bring him after we had our fun. I mean, we did just feed him something right?"

"Do you want that puppy?" He blurted out, it wasn't the best timing but he had thought about proposing that idea to her.

"What are you asking…"

"I was thinking that maybe we can adopt him together."

"Christian, I'm going to Maryland soon and you'll have to go on business trips, who's going to take care of the dog?"

"You promised not to bring Baltimore up."

"You have to think for that puppy," she defended. "We're both busy with our career, he isn't going to get any attention from us."

"You still have a week with me and it's not like we're never seeing each other again."

"So, you're going to travel with him? How?"

"I do have a jet."

"Oh, is this your other way of persuading me to take your jet for granted?"

"You're not taking it for granted, baby. You're putting it to good use. Ros hates private jets thinking it isn't safe and I've been turning down trips here and there since I started dating you."

She was still not completely convinced of the idea. Sure, she wanted that puppy, it was cute and everything she had hoped for in a dream pet. It would grew to a big dog and it was the exact breed that she loved. He knew she would just need a solution to who would take responsibility of the dog and she'd be sold.

"How about this? I'm going to take care of it until you settle down in Baltimore. This way it'll help me cope with your absence better because this puppy will remind me of you since you love it and I love you."

They were strolling around the less crowded area but not any less quiet. They were too focused on their future arrangements to realize that the puppy had followed them all the way over.

"Once you've settled down, I can bring him over to you and leave him with you. Before then, I'll bring him every time I visit. That way, we can all spend time together and he'll know that you're part of the family. I mean, I'm definitely not missing your birthday. So, I'm over there in two months' time."

"What if I can't afford the time for him?"

"Believe me, Anastasia, if you truly love someone, you'll squeeze time for them even if you can't."

She gave him a look which made him regret the way he phrased it because he was making her feel guilty about taking up all his time.

"We'll revisit this topic later," she said decisively, effectively cutting this conversation. "Right now, let's just enjoy our date and if we can find him when we leave, we will bring him to the vet and adopt him once we have a plan in place."

He could agree to that for now.

They covered all the grounds included in this carnival and she had insisted on going on a carousel just to get the full experience. She had made him buy her cotton candies, a hotdog... anything a boyfriend typically did for their girl on a date like this, only short of getting her a huge cuddly bear.

"No, baby." He would always chuckle and laugh at her pleasing expression. "I'm not getting you a stuffed animal because I plan on getting you a real one."

"You mean us," she deadpanned whenever he mentioned the puppy who was still following their footsteps, which was why they didn't go on many trips.

He shrugged noncommittally, he was thinking about them as a couple when he thought about the pet.

"Either way, you're not getting one because I suck at throwing hoops and shooting." He admitted when he made sure her body was flushed against his and her head cradled in his arms so that there was no way for her to escape, and no one to hear them since his lips was pressed against her hair.

She laughed, out loud when she heard that admission. It wasn't mockery, she just found that brutally honest rejection cute. He ruffled her hair in an attempt to annoy her for laughing, but it only made her giggle louder and longer. He tried to look annoyed, but he couldn't, because she was giggling at something he did. He didn't know when he had realized that he truly had feelings for her, but it certainly didn't stop the realization that he was in love with her when it dawned him. Perhaps he had liked her all along, ever since seeing her in that club for the first time.

"If you don't treat me well, Christian, you're going to end up like him."

"Getting bullied by you when we're old?" He chuckled eyes following to where she pointed

They just got off the ferry's wheel and was now heading toward an ice cream stand that seemed really popular. There was an old couple sitting at a makeshift table next to the stand, the old man struggled to put his spoon into his mouth but his partner didn't seem to have any trouble with it. She finished much quicker than him and after setting her cup down, she reached for his. And, as if it was the most natural thing, he shoved his plate slowly to the middle of the table so they could share the rest. There was a faint smile on his face but a wide on in his eyes when he saw that his wife was enjoying eating off of his plate.

She blanched at what she was insinuating. There she was telling him that they needed to focus on themselves first and then it was also her implying that they'd have a future together.

He paid for their ice cream cones and since they asked for different flavors, she was bargaining with him to exchange with her for a bit, but also making him promise that he wouldn't eat too much of hers. He would've let her do anything she wanted and would've done anything she asked, and when he didn't agree to her scheme he really was just playing with her.

"Can I have a bite, Christian?" She whined for the umpteenth time to him, all the while holding her ice cream cone as far away from him as possible.

He chortled at her actions and eyed her cone.

"You're dripping," he informed her and she thought he was lying when the cream really rolled down her hand.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, quickly elevating her arm in an attempt to let the melted ice roll back down from her forearm. He took the cone from her and watched in utmost amusement as she licked the trail clean. "This ice cream is too good to go to waste," she explained now asking for her cone back once he had stolen a few licks from it. "Besides, you did pay a lot for it."

They didn't buy it from the makeshift ice cream stands inside the carnival, they went to the shop nearby that came highly recommended from many tourism apps.

"With the way you're eating your ice cream right now, I'm not sure it's you that'll be after my serve not the other way around when we get old."

He stuffed the rest of his cone into this mouth, long finished his ice cream before hers started to melt. She initially felt embarrassed for thinking about their future when they had only been dating for a year, a few months if they were being precise and technical. And, it wasn't helping either that she was determined to head off to the other side of the country.

"But you'd never have the heart to fight with me for food," she teased cheekily, loving every minute as he showered her with affection. She knew she might've been spoiled by him even before they started going out under the guise of a contract, but she loved it when a guy like him would pay attention to the smallest need. He would do mundane things for her just because he liked to treat her like a queen.

"Probably not," he shrugged lightly, he knew he'd never fight with her for anything if it would upset her. He thought this was probably the logic of a man who was too in love with his girl. "But, then again, I'd hate to see bits of ice cream going to waste because it melted."

She elbowed him every bit like a girl who just liked to act all girly and coquettish with the man she was crushing on. Then she remembered the story that Kate told about her getting ditched by Kate during a field trip and left her with the guy she secretly had a crush on.

"Hey, I think that guy is experiencing the exact same thing I've been through." She giggled nudging Christian with her elbow, this time much lighter just to get his attention.

…

Surprisingly, that little puppy was still following them when they had decided to call it a night.

"Baby, look," she snatched Christian by the wrist and yanked him back just so he could turn around and see the puppy sitting near them pleading them to take him with them when they were about to board the car.

"What about it?"

"Can we please take him? At least take him to a vet or something."

"Do you want to adopt it?" He asked, he had thought about actually using a pet to connect the two of them. At least if they didn't work out in the end, the puppy would at least remind him of the times she had with him.

"Yeah," she bit her lip nervously still eyeing the puppy. "But, there's no way I can take care of it. I'm moving to Baltimore."

Christian wanted to yell at her for bringing up Baltimore when they were enjoying their night out but he refrained. He didn't need to ruin the atmosphere even further.

"Okay, let's just take it to a twenty-four hour veterinary hospital."

"I love you," she yelled over her shoulder and charged at the puppy who was a little frightened by her sudden movement.

Pulling down her sleeves and tucking in her shirt, she made sure that she was fully covered before she reached down to gently scoop up the little puppy who had drained its energy by following them around all night long. She knew Christian would throw a fit if he saw that she wasn't protecting herself while saving this puppy and that was the last she wanted. She was adamant on keeping him in this good mood.

"Where is it?" Anastasia quipped chirpily at the two men standing near the car.

She followed Christian's eyes and landed it on Taylor who was asked to check on his phone.

"Is it within walking distance?" Christian asked once Taylor looked like he had located the hospital that they were heading to.

Once Taylor nodded, Anastasia adjusted the puppy in her arms and chirped. "Let's go then."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	7. Taking Off To The Inevitable

_**Taking Off To The Inevitable**_

It was extremely rare for Anastasia to wake up to an empty bed, but it was the occurrence this morning.

And now, she was wide awake.

And, alerted.

She shot up from the bed into sitting position, holding the sheet to her chest to cover her naked body. They barely had a night where they went to bed, no matter where they were staying, clothed.

Twisting her head around, she was listening for noises coming from the bathroom but she couldn't hear anything. It was all too quiet around.

Glancing at the clock, it was a decent hour to be awake but not enough to get up. If he had an early meeting, he would've woken her up to give her a goodbye kiss. It was their unspoken rule. Just like how they were spending every night together at whichever house they ended up in. They had been officially attached to the hips ever since the paperworks were shredded.

"Did I wake you?" Her head snapped toward the direction of the voice which came from the walk in closet. She didn't even hear anything.

"No," she shook her head dumbfounded and stupidly. "I just didn't expect to wake up alone."

"Oh, good," he breathed. She frowned at that response. "I only got out to get your present."

"My present?" It was then when she noticed that he was still naked from top to bottom without a single trace of clothing. She really did wake up at the perfect time. A smile slowly made its way to her face as her worry disappeared and was replaced with curiosity.

"Yes, yours." His beam instantly reflected on her face.

Making his way back to the bed, she shuffled slightly to create space for him to sit on. The bed dipped indicating his presence and she moved toward him throwing part of the blanket over him. He smiled at her gesture and revealed a box from behind him.

"Cartier?" She didn't know how to react to such an extravagant gift.

He nodded and opened the lid, revealing a bracelet. When he picked it out, she gasped. She wasn't a fan of jewelries, but it didn't need to take a genius to figure out that it was Cartier's Love Bracelet.

"Do you like it?" He asked somewhat nervously.

"Of course," she nodded. "But, surely you've only got it recently."

"Yeah, it's white gold, figured you'd probably don't want something ordinary."

"What makes you think that?" It was true though, she just wanted to know how he knew.

"Doesn't really fit your style."

"When did you get that?" She still hadn't make up her mind on whether to accept or not, because if not, she was going to have a hard time trying to find a legit reason to convince him.

"Yesterday after we come back from our date, I ordered it."

"Why?"

"Because I love you," he replied as if it was too obvious.

"But that doesn't mean that you should just spend thousands on a piece of jewelry."

"I want to. Besides, you bought me a cologne, I should return the favor by being your personal shopper," he grinned referring to their shopping date and she didn't pay for the cologne either.

"Christian, if you're my personal shopper, I don't think I can afford a single thing you've chosen." She deadpanned.

"Which is why you're not paying."

"Then what's the point of a personal shopper. Last I checked, they don't pay for their clients."

"Yeah, but I'm only playing personal shopper but not an actual one." She glared at him for his useless excuse. "Okay, as your boyfriend who loves you dearly, I'd like to spoil you." She lifted an eyebrow knowing that wasn't the only reason. "Well, maybe I want something to remind you of me."

"Or mark me," she added, effectively poking burst the truth that he was trying to avoid.

He shrugged helplessly. "So? Will you accept it?"

She nodded and handed him her right wrist, just as he was about to grasp it, she retracted it.

"Where are you going to keep the key? I might have to take it off for airport security."

"I'm keeping the key, here," he showed her the necklace the small screwdriver was attached to, indicating that he was going to wear a necklace. "And, you don't go through airport security if you're taking my jet. I told you carte blanc."

She stared and then glared at him for mentioning this subject.

"Fair enough," she muttered reluctantly and offered her wrist again.

"Not on the left?" He wondered.

"I'm left handed, remember?"

"I know."

"Yeah, so I don't want it to be in the way when I do stuff and get it damaged."

He accepted that logic and tightened the bracelet around her wrist.

"Now, you're mine forever." He admired his handiwork and whistled, resulting an eye roll from her.

"Yeah, and now you're a caveman."

"Always am and always will be," he leaned forward and captured her lips. "Fuck, I've only dreamed of this moment."

"What?"

"You, only in my Love Bracelet and naked beneath me."

"Put on your new necklace," she requested. "And, now you're naked with my key." She tried to keep a straight face but their exchange just sounded too amusing to her ears now that she replayed it in her mind.

So, she giggled, not knowing whether she had fueled the sexual tension or decreased it.

…

"Such a fancy place for a high school reunion. You sure went to school with a lot of spoiled brats." He jested as they walked through the lobby to the room at the back with looped arms.

"Stop stereotyping. Sure, I went to a fancy school but I got the scholarship okay? It's not like I actually fit there. At least the people weren't actually spoiled brats, they just have too much money."

"More money than sense."

She giggled, recalling herself using that exact same phrase on him constantly. "And, yet you're just a millionaire."

"I'm moving up the scale as we speak, woman. Stop underestimating me."

"Yeah, you said soon."

"Which is going to take like three years. I know, stop reminding me of that shit!" He nudged her playfully, pretending to be annoyed but secretly loved the proud glint shining from her eyes whenever she brought up that he was going to be the youngest billionaire in the foreseeable future.

"At least you're on the People to Watch list of Forbes and a bunch of other ranking magazines."

"If you're so jealous of my publicity, Ms Steele, I can assure you another way of getting onto that list."

"Yeah, commit a crime and get on the Wanted list." She rolled her eyes knowing exactly where his thought would go because it was what they had occasionally joked about.

He laughed and shushed her.

"You want a drink?" He lowered his lips to her ear so she could hear him, she nodded and gave him a smile thanking him.

She turned back to the crowd that she recognized as her friends from high school, and she was quickly pulled into the group when someone noticed her. She hugged everyone and offered compliments and words of congratulations to some that had recently obtained some small achievements.

"Oh my god, look at you guys," Anastasia gushed to her crew as they huddled over one's phone looking at pictures of a young kid. "You're not even twenty-eight and here you are, married with a kid."

"She's one, but she keeps thinking that she's a princess." The mom complained with an eye roll but everyone with eyes could see the love in her eyes when she talked about her daughter. "Her dad spoils her rotten, I swear she's a daddy's girl."

People laughed and gushed about how sweet and perfect her little family was. Anastasia had noticed that the once spiteful bitch in her grade was still spiteful, but she would always defend herself by saying that she was born to have a blunt mouth and people should just accommodate her. Anastasia stole a glance at her who looked bitter and wanted to make a comment about this new family, and she was grateful that the bitch held her tongue.

"You got married?" The topic had somehow shifted on to the one man that appeared to be somewhat shy but good tempered and also a good friend of the group of girls.

Anastasia had went to a school where everyone seemed friendly and nice, and she was lucky enough to find a group of drama-less friends where they befriend everyone.

"Where's the wife?" Anastasia gossiped.

"She's at home."

"Why didn't you bring her?" She whined and a few of the other girls nudged him for leaving her at home while he was out having fun. He was one of the few guys that got along with girls in school without being suspected to be in a relationship with any of the girls.

"She's not the party kind."

"It's not a party!" Anastasia protested, and a few others agreed.

"Her kid isn't here," the guy was quick to deflect that accusation and dragged the new mother in.

If they weren't a close knitted group of friends, people would thought they would start fighting.

"Where's Mary?" Anastasia suddenly blurted realizing that their group was missing a friend.

"She got knocked up," the guy butted in, thankful that all the spotlight had finally left him and his new relationship status.

"What?" She laughed at his bluntness but that wasn't the only realization that had dawned on her. She also noticed that her boyfriend had been taking forever to get them something to drink, and she didn't tell him what she wanted.

"Simply speaking, yes," some other girl struggled to keep her giggles at bay but was also demanded by Anastasia to explain. "So, she found this guy, dated for a few months and then found out that she was pregnant."

"So they got a shotgun wedding?" Anastasia snorted guessing the latter part of the story only because her head was filled with drama whenever she met up or talked with her high school friends.

"Yes! How did you know?"

"It's typical," she shrugged when she was silently astonished by how accurate her guess was.

"The guy and their family was pretty religious and somewhat strict with discipline and everything you know. Remember that she's still got a curfew even at prom?"

"She did?" Anastasia honestly couldn't remember since she got really hammered and she was huddling and enjoying with some other guys since they were mixing drinks pretending to be bartenders.

"Yeah," she received incredulous stares from her friends. "So, since none of their families will allow a child born out of wedlock, they got married before she started to show."

"But everyone's going to know that the bride was pregnant before they were married, since the timing wouldn't make sense once the baby is born."

"Stop being a medical student now and stop focusing on the details! Jesus, Anastasia."

"I'm getting my license soon, and once I got that, neither of you will come out of the OR alive if I'm your doctor," she threatened her friends feigning sternness.

The continued to chat and catch up, but in the back of her mind she was always wondering where her boyfriend had gone.

"Is that a Love Bracelet?" The vain girl that she never really took a liking back in school walked up to her, grabbing her wrist and took a full examination without waiting for Anastasia's permission or just a response.

"Yeah."

"You're so lucky that your man is willing to spend so much on you," she sounded nostalgic.

"Why? Did you bankrupt someone?" Anastasia teased.

"He won't buy one for me," the girl stomped her foot and whined loudly. "I mean we are married and he got me this super nice engagement ring when he proposed," she stuck her hand out showing Anastasia the ring with the biggest diamond she had ever seen on a finger. Yet, it wasn't beautiful in Anastasia's mind, but she digress.

The girl wasn't a gold digger but she was a materialistic girl who was vain and a hopeless romantic.

"I asked for a golden Love Bracelet but he refused. He told me we can't afford it, but I literally saw him with a new computer just a few days after he told me we couldn't afford that piece of jewelry." She continued to lament and Anastasia was enjoying every second of it since the girl had always been somewhat disrespectful toward her due to her lack of fortune and wealth in her family.

"Well, I didn't ask for it," she waved her hand around nonchalantly.

"I think your man is coming for you," the girl pointed at someone approaching them behind her. Anastasia frowned before turning around wondering how she would know that her boyfriend was Christian Grey. "I'll see you around," the girl waved and disappeared, mingling into the crowd.

One thing she liked about this girl was that she was at least faithful and loyal, despite her tendency to complain and being dramatic about everything, she was narcissist but nice as a person.

"I tried but I don't think it's as good," Christian handed her a drink nervously. She looked at the liquid and back at him, giving him a kiss nonetheless just to thank him for going through all the trouble in this crowded place.

She took a sip. "It's not bad," she was still confused why he chose this particular drink.

"It's not as good as the one that you've made."

She looked even more confused.

"This is the exact drink that you've mixed for me the night we met," he explained. "I told you to surprise me."

"You were flirting with me back then."

"You flirt with everyone you serve," he rolled his eyes disliking that thought and wanting to dismiss it and block it out of his mind before his jealousy streak struck.

"It's what gets you more tips," she shrugged, she had almost called it part of her job description. It was no wonder that he was insistent on preventing her from going back to her nigh shifts. "I liked it, it's good." She reassured him sincerely not just to make him feel better.

"Anyway, I like this place," he took a sip from her cup trying to convince himself that it was good enough, the taste that he remembered was still in the forefront of his mind nonetheless. He couldn't ever forget the taste of best drink he had ever been served in a bar, or perhaps it was due to the fact that it was served by someone that had caught his attention the first time he laid eyes on her.

"It's not a bad place," she agreed.

"I want to buy it."

"Since when do you invest in entertainment?"

"It's a restaurant."

She stared.

"I asked."

"Is that why it took you so long?"

"Part of it," he shrugged looking sheepish but she had no intention of blaming him of anything so he relaxed.

"It's going be a good investment?" She didn't care what he buy or what he did with his money but she did care about him so she was curious about his decision and what prompted it.

"I talked to the owner, he wants to expand this place but don't have enough money."

"So he's willing to sell?"

"He wants an investor."

"So you're just going to invest?" She frowned, that doesn't sound like him, she was sure that he was seeking for ownership of this place.

"If I don't see myself owning this place in the end, I wouldn't even consider investing."

"That's more like you. I was worried for a second." She chuckled and he followed suit. "Are you going to meet with him later?"

"I was going to meet with him now."

"Aren't you going to hangout with me?"

"It's your high school reunion, Ana, I don't know anyone here, and you know I don't do well with crowds."

"But, I'm here." She pouted.

"You're going to be fine."

"Can I go with you then?" The urge for her to stay with Christian and spend as much time with him as possible was so strong that she'd be willing to ditch anyone. She didn't know when she had become so clingy.

"Ana," Christian had no problem facing a clingy girlfriend, in fact, he loved it that she needed him just as much as he needed her, but he didn't want himself to be the reason she ditched all her other friends.

"I'm sorry," Anastasia immediately backtracked, thinking that she had successfully annoyed him by being too clingy.

"Whatever for?"

Anastasia wanted to tell him that she had been too clingy. "It's okay," she brushed it off but he wouldn't allow it.

"No, tell me."

"Just go meet up with the owner, I'm sure we can talk later or when we get back home." She offered him a smile that wasn't convincing enough for him.

"Ana!" Someone called and she turned around to see her group of friends catching up with her. "Where are you going?" Christian took this opportunity to slip away, leaving a tender kiss on her cheek.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

Anastasia nodded.

"Why didn't you introduce him?"

"Where's he going now?"

She was now being bombarded with questions, appearing to be under heavy inquisition.

"He just doesn't want to intrude, he thought it's a girls' thing."

"Oh come on, he can stay. You guys looked so in love, I'm sure it's tearing him apart right now that he has to leave you."

Anastasia smiled, whether it was sincere or insincere she knew that she might be the one that was missing him more at the moment.

…

"You're back early." She felt his presence behind her, she wasn't expecting him to be back here so soon.

"I scheduled a meeting with him. I told him that I missed my girlfriend too much and that I'm here with her, so he let me go."

"Christian, you don't have to do that."

"Hey, I promised no work other than working hours." He reminded her seriously of the promise that he had made her when they realized that her departure time was nearing. "Want anything more to drink?"

"Yes, please."

"What do you want?"

"Surprise me of a recipe of your own."

"I don't know how to mix drinks."

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure it out. You've done it at home, and I liked it."

When Christian appeared behind her handing her the drink she had ordered, she automatically wrapped her arm around his waist and tucked her hand into his back pocket.

She heard a faint gasp from somewhere, assuming it was close by, but she didn't take it seriously.

"Dance with me," she requested.

"Do you want to sit down?" He asked against the exposed skin of her neck.

She moaned and hummed a response.

"Christian," she protested weakly, somewhat aware of her surroundings and her friends gushing and gossiping of her very public display of affection with her well-known boyfriend. "That's not a good idea," she shoved pretentiously at his face when his lips landed on the side of her neck.

"No?" He challenged.

"Hmm… no, we should just go get a drink. I'm thirsty," she knew that didn't even sound convincing to her ears but she just had to force herself to say it out loud just so that she could believe it was what she truly wanted.

He wanted to challenge her but considering that she was in a room full of her friends from high school, it might appear to be a little inappropriate and embarrassing.

"Okay, fine."

She pulled him away, he was only more reluctant than her. When they arrived at the bar Anastasia tried to flag down the bartender but they wouldn't pay her any attention.

"What do you want to drink?" She turned to him.

"What are you planning to do?" He narrowed his eyes at her because from the look on her face, he knew that there was more to that innocent question she had just asked.

"I am thinking about mixing a drink for the two of us. Since you know, everyone's so busy…" she nodded at the bartender that was too busy handing out drinks and tissue papers with his number on. "Besides, I see everything that I'll need to fix something decent, so what do you say?"

"I'm on the fence about whether I should leave a good impression for the owner since I'm trying to buy this place or I should just say fuck it all and talk business tomorrow."

"You should tell him that you never mix business with pleasure."

"But I already did," he eyed her suggestively reminding her exactly how they had started. "But, fine, how about you make us something."

"I'm going to climb over and I might get in trouble."

"I'm here, don't worry." He grinned, beating his chest proudly.

"A drink from the lady over there for the lady," the bartender decided to choose this time to come over when Anastasia was ready to lift herself up by the edge of the table counter. "With a message for the man," he placed a reddish drink in front of Anastasia and a piece of neatly folded tissue paper next to it, before Christian.

Both of their eyes followed the arm of the bartender and Anastasia didn't see anyone she recognized but instead, Christian reacted. There was a blonde woman fixing her gaze on them but she got up and left pretty much as soon as their eyes met.

"What does the note say?" Anastasia peaked over the glass of drink that she identified as Bloody Mary. A poorly made one, especially when the color looked ridiculously fake and the smell was anything but inviting. She almost gagged at the spices that were added into the drink. The strong garlic smell made this less like a drink and more like a cheap tomato sauce gone bad.

"What's the drink?" Christian picked up the tissue and unfolded gingerly while taking a sniff at the fluid and gagged at the horrible smell.

"A shit Bloody Mary. Someone's trying to poison me," she rolled her eyes at the unusual bubbling at the surface of the drink, making it appear even more disgusting. "Look at how much it was spiked. If the bartender wasn't too busy flirting and sending his numbers to people, he would've noticed the spike."

"Why?"

"No experienced individual would add this much drug into a drink, much less those reactive kind. You know, I would've thought it was soda if I didn't work in a bar for so long."

Christian was silent but he didn't pay too much attention to the words on the paper, instead he was searching for someone in the crowded room.

Anastasia observed the bartender, he seemed new to the job and there were times when she couldn't help but want to reach forward to open a wine bottle for him seeing as he was struggling to pull the cork out.

"Do you know who sent this?"

"Yes," Christian stated simply but didn't elaborate.

_I will personally bring you down. It's a promise. Watch me._

"I don't understand," Anastasia stared at the writing. "Have you ever received something like this before?"

"Threats similar to this? Yes."

"No, threats that came in this form."

"Yeah, but usually they're intercepted by security or I'd just gave it to Taylor."

"Then why did you read it this time?" She frowned, nothing made sense to her because she could feel that he seemed a little uncertain after reading this seemingly empty threat. He remained impassive on the outside but she knew something was wavering on the inside.

He didn't answer her but she could guess that it was because he knew the sender personally. She wanted to reassure him and tell him that nothing was going to happen but she didn't know that herself.

"Let's forget about this," he dipped the page into the untouched bloody drink and watched it sucking up the alcohol.

Without thinking, Anastasia reached over the counter and picked up the torch lighter.

"What-" Christian couldn't even get the sentence out when she pressed down the trigger as the flame shot to the tip of the tissue instantly lighting it up. "Ana, that's dangerous!"

"It's not, it's contained by a glass and the paper has sucked up most of the alcohol, it won't last."

Looking satisfied, she carefully placed the lighter back to the other side of the counter and watched the flame engulf the page and extinguish seconds after.

"Why did you do that?" He demanded confused and dumbfounded.

She shrugged not knowing the answer to that herself. "Brought me back to the time when I was working night shifts at the bar. Learned a hell lot, ya know." She smirked but he didn't find anything that she had just said amusing. He was relieved that he had successfully stopped her from going back to the night job.

The sound of the lighter and the burning paper had covered up yet another gasp coming from the same person, and this time, Anastasia's eyes had located her. Still, she had no idea who she was but she knew Christian knew her.

There she thought the person was gone but…

When she pulled him down by the lapel of his leather jacket and rested her palm on his chest as she pressed a deep sensual kiss to his mouth, another gasp sounded somewhere.

"Why do I feel like someone's always gasping like they're going to faint soon." She whispered to Christian and he looked around.

He tensed up again and that was when she knew something was seriously wrong and she wasn't imagining Christian's subtle and hidden reaction when they were brought the drink.

"You're right," he whispered back and pulled her closer to his body protectively. She had now finished her drink and with her recently freed hand she rested on his chest as she laid her head on his shoulder. This earned another gasp.

"Who is that?" She frowned at him.

He turned around and nuzzled his nose at her. "Nothing for you to worry about, baby."

This only deepened her frown.

"Okay, but we have to leave now."

She nodded, agreeing to leave right now, so she made up a lame excuse that wasn't at all convincing to her group of friends from high school and left with Christian.

Once they were in the back of the SUV, he told her.

"It was Elena."

"Who?"

"The woman who seduced me."

"Your mother's best friend."

"Why do you have to put it that way?"

"I want to see her," she demanded since the car was still in the parking lot.

"Ana," he warned tiredly.

"I know she's no one important, at least not to you, but I do know that since she's your mom's friend, it's better that I see her now than seeing her for the first time at your house or some functions."

"You're going to introduce yourself to her?"

"Heck no, I'm not an idiot."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I just want to take a glance at her. Know what she looks like, how she carries herself, stuff like that you know? General observations."

"Fine, but we're doing that from afar and only for a few minutes."

"Deal," she was out of the door before she could even form that one word reply.

Christian shook his head and followed. He'd never know what to do with this woman. He only knew that he'd never let her go.

…

A WEEK AFTER THE FOURTH OF JULY

"When's your flight?" Christian fidgeted at the breakfast table, his eyes unable to be taken off of the packed luggages and suitcases standing near the door. He knew he had been asking this question every once in a short while since they got back from the high school reunion.

"I'm taking your jet, remember? You all but forced me to take it." She said playfully.

"Right," he mumbled under his breath, playing with his breakfast.

"I promised I will come back for a weekend once I get settled down. Then, we can go adopt that dog." She wanted to cheer him up but she had a feeling that he would have much more trouble coping without her than she would without him.

They had discussed and decided to adopt the dog since Anastasia couldn't stop thinking about it in that shelter that they had sent to. She kept arguing that she was it in the puppy's eyes that it wanted to be adopted by them.

"I'm going to Europe today."

"What?" This was the first time that she had heard of it.

"I'm going to a few conferences," she had never heard of this before, at least if he had mentioned it she didn't take it to heart, and to her knowledge, he was never interested in business conferences unless it was absolutely necessary.

"When will you be back then?"

"A month or so?" He shrugged noncommittally.

"When are you leaving?"

"A few hours after you."

"You're flying commercial?" She noticed that there wasn't enough time for the jet to fly back for him. He nodded. "Christian," she scolded. "You know how unhygienic those planes are right?"

He nodded. "I'll be fine." He'd rather fly commercial than let Anastasia endure the dirtiness of those flights.

"Why can't you just wait a day or two until the jet gets back so it can take you to Europe?"

"The conference starts in two days."

"Is this a last minute decision?" She questioned.

"No," he answered. "I have been planning on going since you told me when you're leaving for Maryland."

"What?"

"I didn't want to come back home alone knowing that the next time I'll see you in person will be months later."

"We can always Skype. You promised we'll FaceTime whenever we can."

He sighed, aware of how pathetic he sounded. "I just don't think I can actually stomach the thought of not coming back home to you. I know I sound pathetic right now."

"No, I understand. I just wish you could've told me sooner."

"I'm sorry."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	8. Coping Separately

_**Coping Separately**_

AUGUST 2013

"Christian!" Anastasia flew in to his arms at the airport as he spun her around. He would kiss her but he didn't know how well she would react to it since they hadn't seen each other in more than a month.

It was the complete opposite of how they were when they were last at the airport. Perhaps he felt better that he didn't have to cope with living alone and gave himself a month to get used to spending the night alone. But, it didn't make her worry any less with him flying in a flight where the cabin couldn't be properly cleaned.

"How long are you staying?" Christian had no intention of dropping her to the ground any time soon, as if she would run away the instant her feet touched the floor.

"Just the weekend," she told him apologetically.

"But your shift starts on Tuesday." He remembered her schedule perfectly clear the moment he got them, as well as the address to her accommodation. He could recite every new information about her because he had been googling the location and staring at the address for the better part of his work day since he had received them.

"I know, I wanted to stay longer, but I want to get back a day prior to get ready. I mean, it is my first official day." She explained and he totally understood, he just didn't want her to leave that fast. "You can come visit me next weekend," she suggested.

"I was actually hoping that we'd adopt the puppy and stay together for a few days to let the dog know that you're part of the family before we separate again."

She didn't even realize when they had started walking, her legs had just moved itself as Christian guided her, because now before her was the tinted windows of the familiar Audi SUV where her own reflection was staring back at her.

"It is still Friday here, so at least I'd have two nights."

"How about you fly back on Monday morning?" He all but begged. "There is a time difference," he argued.

"Exactly, I need to get used to the jet lag."

"You can sleep on the jet."

"Christian, be real."

"I am."

She lifted a brow and stared at him sternly.

"Okay, but I just miss you so much and I don't want to see you go!" He all but whined, the sadness in his eyes tugged her heartstrings but she needed to get used to the separation, all she could think of at the moment was to increase the frequency of their visits back and forth. "How about I fly there with you?"

"What about your work?"

"I can work remotely."

She snorted, not wanting to be the reason he slacked off on work.

"I don't have any business trips planned."

"What about last minute ones?"

"One week won't kill me."

"Oh really?" She muttered not believing a single word coming out of the CEO's mouth. She could already foresee him looking for potential companies in the area that she worked just so he could have a legitimate reason to see her. "Meetings?"

"Teleconferences," he appeared as if all his problems had been solved.

Anastasia rolled her eyes, she was just short of calling him ridiculous and obsessed, but she didn't have the heart to do so, it was hard enough for her to leave him. She could understand him, she just didn't want him to go overboard. One month away from each other didn't exactly ease how much she missed him.

"Okay, whatever. I'm going to try again later." She told him as they got into the SUV and drove out of the airport. "I'm okay with the idea of going to _visit_ the dog."

"We can bring it home."

"Yeah, and who's going to look after it?"

"We both can," she shot him a look but he pretended to not notice. "I do have a jet and they're not going to check what I bring on my own plane. So, I don't even have to put that puppy in a bag or a cage, it doesn't even have to be on a leash for all I care."

"Christian," she wanted to tell him that it wasn't realistic. They were both too busy and a dog was just too much responsibility added on their plate. "Why are you so hellbent on getting a dog?" She pondered out loud even though she already knew the answer to it.

"You said we're going to adopt it. You were the one begging me to agree that we take it home five weeks ago."

"Yeah, but I've changed my mind and I've actually thought about it with a clear and rational mind."

"Did you not have a clear mind five weeks ago?"

"I kind of got carried away after seeing that creature. Besides, I never really think clearly when I'm around you." She admitted that her mind would turn into a mush whenever she was around him and especially when he was showing affection and not rejecting hers.

He glanced at her briefly before turning his head back to the window on his side. He thought about giving her a fake answer but she would more than likely find out. So, he opted for the real one.

"I want there to be something that we share." He confessed.

She wanted to tell him that this was the reason why married couples have a kid in an attempt to save their failing marriage, which was only going to put strain on the relationship. It was the same notion, the only difference was, their relationship wasn't going down hill, it was stable. Apart from the fact that it was a long distance one, they were still really close and intimate. At least it still felt like they were dating when they make contact with one another.

The point was driven to home with the fact that their hands were linked even in the car ride back into the city.

"I hope you're not mad that I moved your stuff from your old apartment to my house," he murmured timidly, waiting for her to explode.

"I'm not, Kate told me already."

That made his head whip toward her in an instant. "Kate?"

"Yeah, we do live together."

"Really?"

"Was that not written on your background check?"

"I never really looked at your background check that closely, I was spending the better part of that time ogling at your picture."

"My picture?"

"The ones that were attached to the file sent to me," he smirked slightly.

She giggled, squeezing his hand to tell him that they were good. "Don't worry," she chuckled. "Most of the stuff that I left behind are going to storage anyway, Kate is just too lazy to move them."

"Well, now they're stored in my penthouse."

She shrugged, accepting that piece of information. It wouldn't make any difference to her, they were friends and for the foreseeable future in her eyes, they would remain close friends if not more, depending on how they communicate and what they decide.

"Are you sure taking that dog home is a good idea?" She asked anxiously again. She was on the fence with this idea and she needed someone to push her to a side. Her rational part told her to settle down a bit more first before taking in the dog, but the other part really couldn't wait to start taking care of this dog together.

"Yes," he confirmed determinedly, giving her the push that she needed to go over to the other side of the fence. "Dogs can feel what their owners feel, so if he can feel that we are together and that he has two owners, it won't make any difference who he's staying with. Granted, it'll take him a while to get used to both places and the jet lags and everything, but I think little puppies like him are resilient and flexible enough."

"Let's not torture the dog like that."

"Like what?"

"Having it fly back and forth."

"It can stay with me until you're settled."

"Christian," she then started to think about the specific details that went with taking care of a dog, and she was now more determined than ever that she wouldn't get that puppy.

The tone of her voice got his full attention, so he stared at her waiting for her to continue.

"Let's go home first and talk about this," she bit back her thought and said this instead. "I think we aren't considerate enough."

"What do you mean?"

She was mentally making a list of things that they should consider should they decide to adopt this puppy. From potty training to training for obedience, then there was the actual part of care taking, like walking it, washing it and playing with it. With schedules like theirs, it would be hard for either of them to make time to spend with the pup, which would make the dog feel neglected and it might go through extensive measures to get its owner's attention.

"We're not ready for a dog."

"Ana, it's just a dog, it's not a baby."

"They're essentially the same. They're living things that requires your time and energy. It's irresponsible of us to just toss them to someone else because we're constantly away."

"Ana, it's an animal." He obviously still couldn't follow her logic and she was going to make him understand her point of view but when they get back.

"Let's wait a bit longer before making that decision and taking that step, please?"

Christian sighed exasperatedly but reluctantly agreed, he didn't want to start this weekend with her in a sour mood. Their time together was scarce and he wanted to seize every second of it. They might not be officially dating but they were still each other's confidence and to everyone else, they were still an item.

"If, Christian, you ever feel like you've settled enough to afford the responsibility of a puppy, go ahead adopt it. I'll tell you the same if I felt like I have enough energy to deal with having to take care of an additional living thing other than me." She suggested after witnessing his crestfallen face, she couldn't stomach the through of him being upset over something so insignificant that could be easily rectified. She understood where he was coming from and she wanted nothing more than to adopt that dog with him, but she needed to first stand on her feet in the new place.

That visit ended in an almost tearful reply but they both managed to rein it in. She went back on his jet as planned, and he had failed to persuade her to adopt the puppy. She had shut down the topic after telling him that she'd consider it once she was settled. He didn't want to ruin the mood further so accepted her verdict.

…

OCTOBER 2013

Another three months passed and their schedule didn't allow them to even FaceTime as much as they would like. Christian had finally found a gap in between and had decided to surprise her since it was a weekend and she told him that for the first time, she had the time off. Christian landed in Baltimore, Maryland and went to the address that Anastasia sent him. He wanted to surprise her and see if she was up to attending a charity function with him tonight. Which was the excuse he gave for visiting.

He went to the apartment room and rang the door bell, but nothing happened. He then lifted his knuckles to knock on the material, it still resulted to nothing. He looked down at his phone, read and reread the message that she sent him regarding her schedule and double checked the date.

He didn't want to call her because he still stubbornly wanted to see her reaction when she saw him visiting unannounced. Though part of him did wonder if he should've called first given that he had never visited before.

The elevator from down the corridor of the apartment complex dinged, he turned around half hoping that it would be Anastasia.

Due to the time difference and both of their schedules, their contact had been limited only to texts. He had half the idea to fly over every weekend just to see her, but refrained because he didn't want to appear too desperate. God knows he was itching to see her, touch her and hold her in person.

The elevator door slid opened and the tenant living right next to it shot out of his apartment and sprinted into the lift. He sighed, he didn't see the arrow pointing to the ground floor was lit.

He paced and checked his phone constantly in the corridor, he thought about going to her hospital to locate her but decided she probably wasn't working. He texted Taylor to wait for him in the hotel because he was determined to wait for her. He needed to see her.

A few more minutes passed and it was well into the afternoon, he thought Anastasia should be due back soon, it was her day off and everyone was piling back from work.

When the elevator signaled again, he made sure to check the arrows and this time it indicated that it wasn't summoned by the people on this floor. His eyes fixed to the door waiting for it to open and reveal his beloved friend. When it opened, a couple of people shuffled out. A small poodle barked at the new person who just entered. The tenants bid each other farewell and left for their respective condos. He leaned his head against the door as another disappointed feeling spread through his chest. He sighed in defeat, almost wanting to give up but he was very certain that she would come back.

"Christian?" His head snapped up, he could recognize that voice anywhere.

The door to the staircase slammed shut behind her.

"Why did you take the stairs?"

He pushed himself off of the wall adjacent to her apartment door and took a good look at her slightly panting form.

"The elevator's full and the other one's out of service, I don't want to wait," she shrugged.

She was still slim but he knew that it was because of her digestive system. Her body had problem absorbing enough nutrients so she could eat a lot and still not gain weight. _At least she didn't loose any._ He mused.

"I thought I'd surprise you since you said today's your day off," he explained thinking that he needed to when she wasn't at all expecting one. He ran his hand through his hair nervously, almost afraid of her answer.

"I am surprised," she widened her eyes. "Trust me, I would've thrown myself at you and jumped you the moment I saw you if not for the groceries in my hands right now."

"Shit, sorry," he stepped forward offering to help but she refused with a gentle shake of her head. He appeared confused.

"Go to my pocket and find the keys and open the door for me," she instructed, offering her jeans pocket to him.

He obeyed but felt slightly uncomfortable because he wanted to do more than fiddle around her jeans pockets.

"It's probably in the other one," she told him when he pulled out a wad of cash, just small face valued ones. "Enjoy your fondling, Christian." She joked with a giggle easing his worries immediately.

Their text exchanges and banters had kept their friendship close and seeing each other in person and in private was just more intense. She would have flown back and forth to attend some of the more important galas but he turned down most of them and went solo to a small number of others.

"I will fondle properly once we're inside," he winked, inserting the key and pushed the unlocked door open for her.

"I was called to the hospital this morning, a friend of mine's family needs surgery and asked me to step in and overlook the process. It makes them feel better, apparently," she shrugged. She just recently obtained her license and had officially become a licensed doctor but she wasn't in any position to practice on any patient with a more complex medical background. She still need a few more months of studying and observing.

He didn't know why she was telling him all this, but while he sat on the kitchen counter and watched her move around the kitchen putting away the food and listening to her recount of her day. It felt oddly domestic and fitting.

"Then I made a detour to the lab in the hospital to check on the development of my latest experiment."

"You didn't tell me you were still in the lab."

"It was sponsored by the hospital as a research and development assignment. Apparently they liked my research you sponsored."

"Wow," he was truly impressed by her development in Baltimore in just a few months. He understood when she said friend, it meant an acquaintance who asked each other favors from time to time. He had some friendship built on favors after debuting with Anastasia more than a year ago.

After everything was put in place she walked closer to him. "Do you want something to drink?"

He smiled warmly at her. "No, I need a hug." He extended his arms waiting for her to step in.

She didn't hesitate to jump in his embrace. Hugging his head closer to her, she inhaled his unique scent and buried her face in the crook of his neck rocking them from side to side.

"I missed you," she told him in a small voice.

His heart nearly bursted from happiness overload, warmth spread across his chest as he felt the moment.

"I missed you, too. So much."

"I'm sorry I never replied to your texts on time. I need to build a social foundation here, it could come in handy one day, you never know. I need networks."

"I understand, baby." He couldn't stop himself from blurting out that endearment, and from the look on her face, she missed that term too.

"You've been working out," she smirked feeling him up with her hands.

"For you," he smirked back but less sharply. He didn't need to tell her that he spent his days working and going to the gym, because she could feel it just by touching him everywhere. "And, so have you by the feels of it," he squeezed her midsection and then felt all way to her arms then her breasts.

"I have been boxing." She didn't know why she didn't stop him from groping her, probably it was because they were on their own in private.

He cocked his eyebrow upward knowing how she hated working out in front of people let alone in a public gym. It was hard enough to beg a workout with her in his own gym.

"A patient of mine owns a boxing club and is a coach, he gave me discounts which tempted me to go."

"Him? So you're taking lessons now?"

"Do you want to meet him? So you can vet him and see if he's qualified to work with me."

He stared at her just to make sure that she wasn't being sarcastic, when he had checked that she meant it, he relaxed. She still care about him and his feelings, he was glad that all his attempts to avoid being alone with a female business associate at any given chance didn't go to waste. He had too much respect for her to ever betray her in any way.

"Are you on a business trip?" She asked, still holding him tight with no intention of letting him go any time soon.

"I can make it a business trip, but I'm here to see you."

"How long are you staying?"

"I was hoping to spend the weekend with you."

"I'd love to," she pulled back a little and he could see excitement seeping through her pores. "Are you taking me somewhere?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"I just want to chill. The week is really tiring. Anywhere relaxing."

"We can hole up in your apartment for the entire weekend."

"Do you want to stay with me?"

"Of course, but I booked a hotel room just in case you got annoyed and want to kick me out. I want nothing more than to sleep next to you."

"Okay," she grinned and gazed at him, his expression reflected her giddiness. "But, I need to attend an event tonight, it's for the anesthesia department. Do you want to come with me?"

"Is it black tie?"

"Oh shit, you don't have a suit do you? I just assumed that you're here for business." She gasped feeling embarrassed suddenly.

"I already told you that I'm here for you," his smile eased her a little. "I was going to ask you to a charity function tonight so I brought a tux with me. I also brought a suit just in case you don't want me and I can find work to do."

"Oh, good," she breathed out. "Can you come then?"

"Yes," he laughed at her expression and pecked her lips for her adorableness.

"Do you have any dealings here? Business, I mean." She now had her forearms resting on his shoulders and her fingers playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. His hands rested on her hips and his thighs secured her place in between.

"There is a company that I want to work with but they don't seem too eager."

"It's a shipyard."

"Speaking of shipyards, don't you have one in Taiwan too? Are they all sorted out?" A few months ago he bailed on her because of the Taiwanese, and he now harbored deep hatred for them because they prevented him from going to his girl.

"No," he sighed and shook his head in annoyance. "They're still a pain in the ass. I'm looking for one on the East Coast. Gotta expand my sphere of influence," he smirked, eliciting a giggle from her which widened his smile.

"Do you still have to go then? To Taiwan," she pouted her lips slightly at the idea of him leaving the country for more than two weeks.

"I'm trying to avoid it but I don't know."

"If you're going, when would that be?"

"Next week probably, or the week after."

She was now giving him a full-on pout of defiance. "Then that means you won't get to see me in Seattle."

That got his attention real quick.

"I'm going to Seattle next week for some learning and I'll be there for the whole week, so I was thinking of spending the weekend with you and fly back late at night on Sunday. Now, I will probably just leave on Friday afternoon."

"No, don't. I'll go the week after the next. I'm going to procrastinate just so I could detain this trip if that means I get to hangout with you."

She chuckled shaking her head speechlessly and patted the top of his head affectionately. "We better start getting ready."

"Which one are we going?" Christian asked curiously and amusingly, staring at her forbidding her from going into her room.

"Mine," she decided for them. There were a few unspoken understandings that could've changed during their time apart. He didn't know if she'd still let him gawk as she change like a voyeur, or if his groping earlier was appreciated.

"Okay," he laughed lightly at her eagerness. She never liked attending those events and it surprised him that she was so determined to go to this one. "I am at your disposal."

…

"I am so tired tonight," she flung her purse over the couch and threw herself on to her bed fully aware of him following closely behind her. She patted the space around her and invited him to stay in her space.

"Well, guess what I've brought for our lazy weekend?" He plopped down next to her squeezing and making himself comfortable at an unoccupied space around her on the bed.

She sat up a little supporting her head with her hand. "What?"

"I believe we aren't finished with this," he produced a thick box of DVD set and upon taking a closer look, she realized that it was the TV show that she made him watch with her on his birthday. The show that they've just started with one episode that wasn't even from season one.

"We're starting from the beginning this time," she told him, taking the box from him and examining the set with glee.

"Tomorrow, we're holing up in here for the entire day."

"And, order take out?"

"If that's what you want."

She grinned appreciatively. It was in moments like that that reassured her that they could still have what they had even after being separated. She wanted to kiss him, and she would have if they were not technically dating. She needed to control herself so she could focus on the pact.

"I believe the deal that we've made is similar to what Chuck and Blair did."

"But, they've dated other people in the process and bedded basically everyone in their circle." She argued. "Wait, you've finished the entire six seasons already? Since when did you have time to binge watch?"

"I didn't watch it, Mia told me."

"Oh, Kate spoiled everything for me too," she shrugged compassionately. "Guess we all got spoil sports as relatives." That term was used loosely but they knew what it meant.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	9. So Close Yet So Far

_**So Close Yet So Far**_

For the first time, Anastasia gone back to Seattle with Christian in his jet and it was taking everything in him to not offer her a membership in the Mile High Club. At least, he'd like to believe that she wasn't a member.

"What's your schedule like this week?" He asked instead, reaching out to touch her hand to gain her attention. Any excuse to touch her.

She rolled her head away from the window to face him. Her eyes lowered to their intertwined hand. Out of all the seats he had to choose to occupy, he cozied up with her. When she sensed his uneasiness she smiled, it was refreshing to see him feeling like that around her. To put him at ease, she tightened her hold on his hand and scooted closer to him so she could lean on his shoulder.

"I don't know," she hummed, unwilling to think about the week ahead but to bask in the current moment with this man that she couldn't call hers. "Will you be going to Taiwan?" She inquired, playing with his fingers with both of her hands.

"Yes, unfortunately," he sighed sadly, touching his cheek against the crown of her head affectionately. He really wanted to tell her that he had been thinking, and he wanted to ask her why couldn't they have both? Why couldn't they date each other while pursuing their own career goal?

But he digress. He knew she would come up with so many reasons and the main one being long distance relationship would be too risky given the amount of pressure and stress they were under as they work toward fulfilling their goals. He would argue with her and assure her that they would work out, but he knew that it would be moot because she wouldn't accept it and he would only upset her.

"It's okay. It's not like I will have much time on my hand anyways. I'll probably be at the hospital all day long for the entire week."

"What about your weekend?"

"I'm flying back."

"You're not staying the weekend?" He was hoping he could rush everything and make it back to spend the weekend with him.

She shook her head. "You're not there, so there really isn't much that can tempt me to stay."

"I will be back," he promised. "I can push it back a week. Maybe we can leave for the airport together this time as well?" He suggested, as it seemed that it had became some kind of tradition between them to depart from Seattle together.

"Then, you're taking the jet." She ordered him sternly, daring him to fight her on this matter. "My flight distance is so much shorter than yours."

He pulled away slightly causing her to lift her head up from his shoulder to meet his gaze. There was a hint of a smile on his face. She stared at him curiously, she couldn't fathom what was going on through his brain. She didn't get a chance to find out because he lowered his lips on hers before she could ask.

"You can be so bossy when you want to be," he smiled against her lips, then he enclosed her lips once again before she could form a response. The advance took her by surprise that she was now being pressed up against the airplane window, their lips still firmly latched to one another's.

"You like it, though," she pursed her lips and shrugged coquettishly. She was still very effectively pinned beneath him in the seat and against the window.

"Not always."

"Do you now," she giggled coyly. "You always like me," she pouted.

He chortled and proceeded to kiss her, despite her whimpering protests.

"Seriously though, Christian." She pulled away slightly, she was still bugged by the thought of him detaining work for her. "It's not like that'll be the only weekend we spend together. Don't let this be the reason you put work aside. We can still meet up whenever we visit each other."

"That's impossible, Ana. As sappy as this sounds, but there's not a decision that I'm going to make without thinking about you."

Anastasia sighed. She lowered her gaze and started to fiddle with his lapels.

"Can we sync our calendars?"

"No," she replied a little too quickly making the rejection stung even more. "I mean, I don't have a personal one, there's only a work one which I am forbidden to share with others since you know, patient confidentiality and stuff."

"Okay," he sounded subdued.

"I will tell you when I have a longer break, but you can always drop by. We can still spend the night together or whatever time we can together even if I have to work. I am very rarely summoned to the hospital since I'll probably always been in the surgery room or the lab."

"Does that mean that you won't have time to come back?"

She pondered a while and the more she mused the more she was disheartened, and his heart constricted at once.

"For Christmas definitely, but if my rank is high enough then I can probably get more says off. Or if I'm sent to Seattle for further studies."

He slowly pulled away from her, releasing from under him and restored an upright position in his seat.

"Are you upset?" She didn't allow him to be peeled away from her too long, because she was soon attached to him again, this time she hugged onto his arm tighter and laid her head directly atop his steady heart beat.

"I'm not," he told her truthfully. "I understand. I just wish there are more opportunities for us to see each other." He sighed heavily, and she felt like a bitch for basically suggesting that their relationship or friendship wasn't a priority.

She couldn't think of anything else to say that could ease his mind because she was still determined to stick to their deal. Call her stubborn but she thought it was beneficial to themselves. At least they knew how they truly felt for one another.

"Did you take the spare key that I gave you?" She mumbled to his chest.

"I wouldn't forget," he patted his pocket where his wallet resided.

"Good, because I expect to see you sitting in my apartment when I open the door for your surprise visits." She patted his stomach to make sure that he had heard her.

"You're not picking me up from the airport?" He teased, patting her cheek using the hand that wasn't restrained in her clutch, and pecked her on the crown and forehead repeatedly.

"Well, you can't have both, right? That'd be a utopian society. Besides, you can have your goons drive you."

"You mean Taylor. He's not my goon he's my minion." He deadpanned.

"Uh uh, that's Andrea," she corrected goofily. "Taylor is your goon, he looks more like one."

Christian laughed heartily. "Whatever you say."

...

Anastasia returned to the penthouse after her last day of extended study at the hospital, it was a conference that gathered all the anesthesiologists around America from top hospitals, and each hospitals were all expected to send out representatives for the study. Anastasia somewhat volunteered; she was the only one that didn't turn it down.

Now that she was finally done, she needed some time to gather all her notes and put together a presentation for the rest of the department. All she wanted to do was to snuggle up in bed with Christian and work. She had changed his habit of working in the studies at a desk when everything he needed was on a computer. They had been working together in bed whenever they were together and only when either of them _had_ to use the desk do they use the home office.

"Gail," she had only just noticed the woman standing at the door to the master bedroom where she had tossed her laptop bag on the dining table carelessly before dragging her foot to the bed and throwing herself on to the comfortable mattress.

"Would you like some refreshments, Ana?" Another change that Anastasia had somewhat forced Christian to implement was how he addressed his domestic staff, namely Gail. She told him that the woman could be someone he could turn to when he was lonely and missing her because she had signed an NDA, and was like a mother figure to him. After some thorough contemplation, he accepted, and Gail could now address him as Christian.

She exhaled loudly, rubbing her face tiredly with her palms. She hadn't exactly slept her best because the last phone call with Christian made her worry. He refused to video with her and she could hear the visible weariness in his voice. She knew he hadn't been adjusting well to the jet lag because she wasn't with him and he couldn't establish a daily routine in the short five six days that he would be there.

"No, thank you, Gail."

"You need to rest, Ana."

"I know," she sighed tiredly.

"I'll wake you up for dinner in a few hours." Gail suggested kindly and empathetically, she could see how exhausted and worn out the young doctor was every night she came home. It did take Gail by surprise that she passed out in the position that she fell into bed with before the last syllable was out of her mouth.

Sighing to herself, she closed the door gently behind her and headed to the kitchen to start up dinner. She had heard both sides of their stories and knew that Christian was eager to get her back to Seattle but she was determined to chase her dreams. Gail understood Anastasia completely, she could almost see her shadow in that young girl. Only, she chose the man over her dream believing it was another dream come true.

It was, only it didn't last long. She could understand Anastasia's reluctance in accepting Christian fully and giving up or changing her career dream. The young woman just didn't want to be overdependent on someone only to realize that she couldn't stand on her own once the bubble bursted.

It pained the housekeeper to see young couple who loved each other but wasn't willing to compromise on their career. She understood and she probably would've done the same if she had given a second chance, but from a third-person's perspective, her heart would still ache for them.

She wanted to say something to prompt the two to really rethink their situation but it wasn't her place to remind them of their gnawing circumstances and confuse them even more about what they truly wanted to accomplish. All she could do was watch them suffer when they had too much time to themselves because they would automatically thought of one another.

When Anastasia was first introduced to Gail, she could see that there was a pretence covering up the true feelings that they had started to develop for each other, but she kept to herself and witnessed the blossoming of young love.

As promised, she went to rouse the young hostess from the bedroom when dinner was finished. The woman was in the same position that she was in a few hours ago, and she had a nagging feeling that like her employer, they rest well in each other's slightest company, even just the scent. She guessed it was because they felt secure and content when their subconscious could remind them of the presence of the other being.

After dinner, Anastasia took the plates and utensils to the sink as always and scraped the waste into the bin like she always did since she first ate a meal here. Gail was going to suggest that they both turn in for the night seeing as how exhausted she still was, but the elevator signaled.

The two women glanced at each other warily but was somewhat feeling better because security didn't show up and they always would when it was some visitor that they were expecting.

"Whoever it is, can you tell them that I'm not available? Give them any excuse, please." Anastasia beseeched, she hated to put Gail in that position knowing that she'd want to return to her apartment for a restful night, but right now, she really needed someone to fend off some surprise visits just so she could rest in a bath.

"Yes," Gail obliged earnestly and urged her to go for that tub she had been planning on using since walking out of the bathroom earlier before dinner.

"Thank you," Anastasia smiled appreciatively and apologetically.

"It's my job. Really, now go!" She shooed.

Anastasia was half way across the room when Mia came barrelling in, catching her just in time.

"Ana!"

She couldn't even fake an enthusiastic reaction even if she wanted to, tiredness was written loud and clearly on her face and she wasn't even going to attempt to hide it.

"Ana, you didn't tell me you bake? I saw your Instagram. I like your description, too, it's so classy." Mia blabbered on, seemingly totally oblivious to the weariness the other woman was feeling at the moment.

"Mia."

"And, you know that I'm trying to persuade my brother to fund me to go to culinary school in Paris, right? I'm sure he's told you…"

"Mia," she interrupted again with no avail.

"He tells you everything… but that isn't the reason why I came because I think I can get my parents to pay for me. At least if I got mom to agree that I've got the talent to cook or bake, then she can be my key to the money that dad has left aside as my college tuition."

"Mia…" Anastasia all but sighed but Mia still didn't get the hint.

"I just want to bake with you, try one of your recipes. They just look so delicious online and I don't know how you managed to bake because mom is just so busy everyday, and she's also a doctor." She rambled on, and by that point, Anastasia had give up on trying to stop the hurricane and would decide to just let it subside itself. "Perhaps you can be the judge to see whether my talent lays in baking or cooking. I mean, if cookery doesn't work out, I can always go to Paris for fashion design. I've always got a knack in that and it makes good money, fame and popularity, too."

"You're going to give your brother a headache," Anastasia muttered under her breath. Just thinking about Mia trying to attract all the attention and enter the entertainment circle would probably be enough for Christian to have a seizure. The girl wasn't only a ball of energy but also too impulsive in Anastasia's humble opinion.

"I know, which is why I want to try cookery first, but you know my parents and my brother, they would like to know if I've got my heart in this before they throw cash in there. It's not like they're short of it but they still spend it so carefully with so much precision and thinking."

"Mia. Mia. Mia!" Anastasia couldn't take it anymore, sleep was taking over her faster than she could hold it back; and, she didn't want to rein it back. She wanted to sink into that bath tub before climbing under the cozy covers.

"Yes?" She was slightly surprised at the raised voice from Anastasia, who had been anything but kind to her ever since they first met.

"Can you come here tomorrow afternoon?" Anastasia rubbed her forehead hoping Mia would get the hint.

"Oh okay. So, where's my brother?" But apparently, she didn't, she just thought she was intruding on a couple's night or that Anastasia simply just wasn't in the mood for baking.

"He's in Taiwan."

"He's on a business trip? Then why are you here?" There was no accusing tone or any malice in her words, she was simply curious and confused.

"I'm here as a representative from my hospital on the East Coast for a medical conference hosted here. And, I live here." She offered no elaboration to the reason why she moved in because she didn't want to badmouth Kate when she had not much idea what really went down between Kate and Elliot, because her roommate had been picking up guys every day and she was starting to get tired of the behavior.

"You moved in together?" Mia's eyebrows skyrocketed.

"I live on the East Coast." This reminded of the younger woman that she still have no idea what Anastasia's profession was and where she actually resided because Christian never offered any information and their parents never asked.

"Where?"

"Maryland," Anastasia replied vaguely. "I'm an anesthesiologist." She offered also realizing that the Greys were never told of her career. She just didn't like disclosing details of her private life and Christian respected that.

"When is my brother coming back then?"

"Next week," Anastasia answered with another tired shrug and she fought to stifle a yawn. She wasn't even sure when he'd be back. Knowing him, he'd probably push every meeting forward just so he could get back for the weekend with her.

"When are you leaving Seattle, then?" Mia walked further into the living room and into the kitchen to help herself, and Anastasia almost rolled her eyes. She decided to just leave the woman there by herself, since she was in her brother's house and Anastasia couldn't really dictate its visitors as she still felt like a guest without Christian's constant reassurance or presence.

"Mia, I'm sorry but I'm beat today, please excuse me."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot that you had a long week." Mia slammed the door of the refrigerator shut and picked up her purse as she headed for the door, only then noticing the fatigue written all over her face. "Forgive me, Ana, I just got too excited and carried away because I've never really hangout with you since you and my brother started to date, it's always been Kate even though she's no longer dating Elliot. And that didn't even last long cause she moved to New York."

"It's okay," Anastasia chuckled awkwardly. She was nervous and afraid that Mia would get carried away once again by all the talking, even if no one was encouraging it.

"I am so happy that Christian has found you. I mean, he's probably told you _his_ reason as to why he chose to remain single but he looked so lonely back then."

"Mia," Anastasia didn't want to throw her out but right now, kicking her out was the only thought that was occupying her mind. "Mia," she interjected abruptly stopping Mia from another ramble. "I need to go take a bath. Make yourself at home," she offered her a comforting smile, albeit it was a little forced but she meant it as a courteous gesture.

"I'll see myself out," Mia mumbled as she drained the liquid in her cup. Anastasia could hear the pout and grievances in her voice but she wasn't about to give up her thought about turning in early. She would be playing right into Mia's hand if she turned around.

"Christian," Anastasia raised the phone to her ear as she stepped into the bath and sunk beneath the water so that it reached her neck. "Hey, guess who made a surprise visit?"

"Mia," Christian replied without hesitation.

"You knew?"

"I was watching the CCTV feed of the penthouse," he admitted, never hinting a single sheepish feeling. He didn't feel guilty for it. "I just want to see you," he defended his actions that he found perfectly adequate for a desperate man.

"You were spying on me?" She didn't know what to make of it. She knew she should be angry but there was a part of her that felt relieved with felicity and warmth knowing that someone was looking over her.

"Are you mad?" He asked with uncertainty, he couldn't gauge her reaction from her tone over the phone.

"No," she giggled softly. "No, I'm not. It's surprisingly comforting to know that you're stalking me."

He chuckled, she could hear the stress, the worry and the fatigue behind his chortle and she once again asked if she could see him.

"It's late, Ana. You should go to bed."

"What are you doing up so early?"

He was mute and she knew without him answering verbally that it was because he couldn't sleep.

"Jet lag," he went for nonchalant but that didn't escape her.

"Stop trying to cover it up, Christian. I know you're exhausted and you don't sleep well without me in a new place. But, please, I beg you. Get some sleep. For me, please?" She implored in despair. "You won't let me see you and I can only imagine how tired you look."

"I will, but you've just dealt with Mia and I can hear how tired you are, so just go to bed. We can talk over the weekend."

"Are you working through the weekend?" She wasn't expecting his return until next week, so she really thought it was a moot point in asking when he'd be back.

"Yes, there's not much I can do to entertain." _Unless I go to the clubs. _He mused to himself somberly. _But I doubt I'd be able to get it up knowing Ana is in my house and on my bed._

He would do anything to curl up next to her and scoop her in his arms as they both fell into undisturbed sleep, but if everything went according to plan, the earliest he could leave was on Monday, and by then Anastasia would've already arrived in Baltimore.

"Sweet dreams, baby. Love you." He produced a loud air kiss, it made her giggle every time he did it, so he would make it a point to do it every time before they hang up, and it worked every time.

"Love you, too." She giggled as expected and returned the kiss. "Dream of me," she whispered just as the line went dead.

…

Mia took the request from yesterday night superficially because she stepped through the threshold once again just after one in the afternoon. Anastasia had just had lunch and was about to sit down in Christian's office so she could finish up the presentation that she was supposed to finish this morning when she worked in the library. But nothing went according to plan since she got too distracted by the books.

"Mia, hey," Anastasia had a legit reason to turn her away but she wasn't about to be so cruel and reject her again. It was a weekend after all and she did have the next day and the flight back to the East Coast to finalize it.

"Since when do you work in here? I've always disliked this room. It's so cold and distant. Just not very friendly," she made a face and pulled the brunette out the moment she was within reach. "Luckily, my brother doesn't allow anyone in there, but of course, he'd make an exception to you. _And_, you live here."

Anastasia wondered why this girl could be so bubbly and energetic at any given time in the day. Fortunately, she didn't have to put up with her rambles any longer because almost as soon as they arrived in the kitchen, Mia's face turned serious.

"I met this guy the other day, saw him on Ins and I asked him to teach me how to make the most basic pastry."

Anastasia nodded indicating that she was listening as she pulled out the ingredients for a chocolate cake from everywhere around the cabinets and fridge. She had half a mind to bake Christian a chocolate ice-cream cake and leave it in the freezer for his return, but she was also contemplating on making that dripping chocolate lava cupcake she made him for his birthday. Or she could make him a chocolate funnel cake, the kind that they got at the carnival.

"Okay, and?"

"What are you doing?"

"Finish your story," Anastasia didn't walk into the trap this time. "What happened?"

"Well…" and now, Mia appeared antsy and embarrassed all of a sudden. "I was drooling over him the entire time that I actually didn't learn anything from him. The only take away I got was to not over-whisk the egg white and to add the sugar in three times. Oh and I was also told to not batter the egg yolks too hard…?"

"That's a start," was all Anastasia could comment. "What do you want to make today?"

"You look like you're going to bake something."

"I'm thinking about making something for Christian." She admitted, staring at the ingredients and sizing them up to see which of the three options was more suitable given the amount that she had before her.

"I can help."

"Why don't we make something together so we can eat it later?" Her head shot up with an idea. Anastasia really didn't want anyone to help her when she make something for the man she loved. It wasn't because she was going to write some mushy note on the topping or she was going to hide a ring in the filling, but because she thought the process should be done in private since it was some thing between the couple and no one else's business.

"Good idea!" Mia perked up. "Oh! I remember seeing one of your recipes that you had posted on Instagram and I wanted to try that so badly."

She dug her phone out of her ginormous purse after a few minutes of rummaging and opened Instagram to Anastasia's profile.

"I loved your description of your bio by the way, it's so adorable."

"I drug people for a living but this is where my true passion lies?" Anastasia recited as she waited for Mia to find the post that she was looking for. "At least I added an explanation at the very end saying that I'm an anesthesiologist in Maryland. Rhymes with my name, too."

The busy anesthesiologist started this account after coming back from Seattle from that very first visit. She knew that the amount of time that she had in total wasn't going to change so she needed to manage it more wisely if she wanted to get things done. Which led her to this account where she would make sure that she would bake on the weekends or during her days off. Because she would feel obliged to post.

Her posts soon gained public attention and since she never cared about who was following her as she wasn't following anyone, she had no idea who was following her and had no clue that Mia and many other high profile figures were her fans. And she didn't think about making her account private since it was like a blog to her.

"This!" Mia pointed to the very first post that she had made. It was poorly filmed in her defense but it got her popular very quickly.

"Cookies?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	10. Even Further Apart

_**Even Further Apart**_

A WEEK LATER

She was surprised that the department was letting her off this early after she just came back from the conference. Her presentation was on Tuesday, and she was told that another doctor asked for three days off from Friday to the weekend and so they swapped their shift with hers, and Anastasia had Tuesday after the presentation until Friday morning. She didn't hesitate to jump on the jet and fly back to Seattle right after the presentation.

It was already late at night when she arrived, but Gail still made her something even though she was clearly ready for bed. Anastasia thanked her profusely and told her over and over again that she didn't have to.

Twisting and tossing around in bed, she was slightly jet lagged, but it hadn't been a problem for her since she was the kind of person who could nap at any given time. Perhaps it was because she was always so tired from a life so full and substantial.

She stretched her limbs out like a cat but her advances were blocked by a dense block of muscles. She yelped and retracted her hand, suddenly wide awake. "Holy shit!" She gasped at the sight before her when she opened her eyes. "Christian?" She whispered, reaching out to touch the gray-eyed face that was staring intently at her.

He immediately scooted closer to her and enveloped her in a tight embrace.

"You're back."

"I was going to fly straight to Baltimore but Gail told me someone's waiting for me in my room."

"When did you arrive?" She clung onto him, wrapping her limbs around his torso.

"Just a few hours after you retired to bed. I didn't want to think that it's you but you have no idea how happy and content I felt when I saw you sleeping so peacefully in our bed."

"You were staring at me this whole time?"

"Just the past hour."

"You're so creepy," she giggled. "Aren't you tired?"

"Yes, now that I've finally seen you after so long."

They laid back down, she was still pulled flush against him and he had no intention of ever letting her go.

"How did it go in Taiwan?"

"It's just a glitch. They accused of Ros not stating our terms clearly the last time they were here for negotiation. Bunch of useless idiots that claim they understand English."

She giggled. "Do they not speak English?"

"They're not an international port before I reached out. They were doing domestic businesses."

"Why did you look at them then?"

"They're cheap. That way I can make a lot more out of it after I bought it and turn it into a shipyard responsible for global demands. I just need their locals for communication with the local government."

"You are cruel, Mr Grey," she grinned, running her hand down the center of his chest and fondled his abs. "Why are you naked?"

"The clothes are dirty. I flew commercial back."

"Why didn't you summon the jet over? You told your pilot that you're not coming back until the end of this week so I used it."

"i said carte blanc to the jet."

"I remembered that I've never agreed to it."

"Doesn't matter, you have it. They're at your disposal."

"I told you to take the jet and not fly commercial."

"I took first class."

"Doesn't matter, you promised you'd take the jet. You took it there, why did you send it back?"

"The meetings ended earlier than planned. I did have a flight plan coming back for the end of this week and it's filed and approved of. I only canceled it yesterday when I booked the commercial flight."

"I'm still not happy about it."

"I couldn't wait to see you."

"You could've flied straight to Baltimore for me this weekend, though I'd be working."

"How long are you staying here?" He kissed her deeply on the mouth to stop her from pouting her adorable lips and interrupting her train of thoughts about reprimanding him for not taking the jet.

"I'm flying back early Friday morning. I have a shift that afternoon."

"Ana." He scowled and she just knew that the next words out of his mouth would be how tiring that would be and how exhausted that would make her.

"It's a five hour flight, Christian. I can sleep on the plane."

"You're taking the jet."

"I am, I already told the pilot to file the flight plan."

"Good, I'm glad that you're using the jet as you should. Now, tell me what you and Mia did."

"Weren't you watching us?" She teased. She didn't feel a tad bit tired even though it was literally just a couple hours past midnight.

"I was there to work, woman."

"You have the cheek to tell me that you're there to work when said person told me how he was watching the CCTV feed the other night."

He just grinned and at that moment, she saw the carefree young man in his late twenties instead of the shrewd millionaire fighting his way up in the business world. She ran her fingers through his hair, ruffling it.

"You need to wash your hair."

"I know, and I also need a haircut."

"Can I do it?"

"Wash my hair? Sure."

"And, cut it?"

"Are you sure?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "I don't want a buzz cut."

"Just to trim it." She promised giggling at his skeptical expression. "I know you don't trust me."

"I do trust you."

"You don't trust me with your hair. Pretty boys like you depend on your appearances for your life."

"Oh, really?" He laughed mockingly. "You think I charm my associates to sell their business to me?"

"Yes, I'm sure you did just that in Taiwan. You know, charmed the daughter of the owner or got into her panties and bam, the company is yours."

"Are you suggesting that I'd cheat on you?"

"We're not dating, Christian."

"Not officially but that still doesn't stop making me feel guilty when I am in the presence of another female."

"Well, in that case, I guess you'd be happy to hear that I haven't been alone with any male colleagues either. Well, there would always be several doctors and nurses in an operation room."

"I'm not worried. I trust you, Anastasia."

"Oh good, then can I _trim_ your hair?"

He laughed at her persistency. "Fine, I'll trust you with my hair just this once."

"I will be sure to meet your pretty-boy hair styling standard." She grinned as she reassured him and that grin was a little putting him off on the entire idea.

"Is that my nickname from you now? Pretty boy?"

"Could be, haven't thought of a better one. This one is by far the most suiting," she shrugged, relaxing and sinking back into the bed and closer to him.

"What did you and Mia bake?"

"Sleep, and I'll show you tomorrow."

He wanted to say more but she was already wiped out when he finally thought of a witty remark.

…

"Oh Christmas arrived early!" Christian whistled in the kitchen as he reluctantly closed the fridge that contained all the goodies that he wanted to devour.

"Ana! You stuffed the entire freezer with chocolate dessert? I knew I love you for a reason." He dashed back into the room and jumped on to the bed making Anastasia, who was still pretending to be asleep on the side, bounce.

She was wide awake at the moment but she didn't want to give him any satisfaction so she flopped onto her back and kept her eyes closed. Pretending to still be asleep.

"Ana! Ana!" Christian shook her like a boy desperate to open his Christmas present. "I know you're awake. Open your eyes, baby."

She didn't budge and he shook her again. When she still didn't respond, he clambered on top of her and started to lick her face.

"Ew! Get off of me!" She threw her head from side to side and thrashing her limbs at random directions trying to yank it away from his hold, but with no avail. "Are you a dog or something?"

"Speaking of dogs," he suddenly stopped and sat up. "Ah, you finally opened your beautiful eyes." He caressed her cheek tenderly but the teasing look on his face told her that he wasn't being affectionate, so she swatted his hands away.

"Talk!" She ordered.

"Dogs."

"What about them?"

"What happened to our puppy?"

"Taco?"

"You named him already?" He laughed at her slip up. "What if it's a her?"

"Then call it Mona."

"You've already thought of names? We haven't even decide if we're going to adopt him. He must be so big now."

"Did you go visit him?"

"Of course, yeah. I even took pictures with it." He pulled out his phone and scrolled to his most recent selfies and showed it to her.

"You are so adorable with that dog."

"Do you want to adopt it now?"

"Maybe next time we're here."

He could see it in her eyes that she wanted to but didn't know how to distribute her time because they live so far away. So, he made it his mission to gift it to her as part of her Christmas presents.

"Okay. Now, get up, you need to tell me what you've done with my fridge?"

"I didn't do anything to your fridge. If something happened, then it's definitely Mia."

"It's not Mia. I would know if it's my sister. She probably thinks she's got talent in bakery or cookery but she's been doing a shit job so far."

"You're not the one to judge. At least she could feed herself, you can't without pre- made food in the freezer and a microwave."

"She's not much better than me. End of story. Now, move your butt!" He hauled her up and swatted her ass as he planted her feet on the floor.

"Carry me," she instructed. "I don't want to walk."

"Well, that's a first." He grinned like a Cheshire cat and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Not like a potato sack, idiot!"

"Oh, you want to be a princess?" He teased playfully, swinging her around his body as if she weighted nothing and ending up carrying her in his arms bridal style.

"Or you can just give me a piggy back," she deadpanned with an eye roll. "I would've been in far better comfort if I had my legs around your waist."

"You just want to feel my dick up."

"Psh, you're such a dreamer."

He laughed when she smacked his chest, hard.

"I'm going drop you if you do that again."

"You wouldn't dare," she smacked it again, this time much lighter. "Ah! Christian!" She screamed when Christian let her free fall a level before catching her again. "Don't do that! I don't want to end up in the ER with no adequate anesthesiologist."

"Why, do you not think I'd find the best for you?"

"There's no time for you to fly an anesthesiologist in when you are in the ER. Besides, now that I am a doctor living so close with chemicals each day, I wouldn't trust anyone with drugging me and knocking me out."

"You just don't trust them." He scoffed playfully.

"And, you do? I highly doubt that," she huffed.

"If you're my doctor, then I'd probably black out the moment I saw you. You'd probably look like an angel walking through those hospital doors. Oh, now I want to claw your patients' eyes out for seeing you like that."

"You're being ridiculous."

"I am," he laughed. "I know," at that he laughed even louder. "Okay, we have arrived at our destination, my lady. Please kindly disembark from your carriage," he announced and literally tossed her on to the couch as he said the last sentence.

"I'm suppose to get off from my carriage not being literally thrown out like a trash!" She protested but he was already gone with his nose stuck in the fridge with only his ass sticking out. "Nice ass," she commented slurring, tossing a pillow in that direction lazily like a drunk.

"Introduce them," he commanded as he set down all four kinds of dessert that were all chocolate flavored.

"Are you sure you want to try all of them?"

"I'm sure nothing can go wrong with chocolate."

"You want to be acquainted with them?" She scooted to the edge of the couch and asked while pointing at the snacks with a serious face.

"Well, yeah. So, introduce me." He played along, frowning at her when she appeared to be reluctant at doing so.

"Are you interested in any of them?" She questioned again.

"Can you just introduce us already, lady?"

"No, as your agent, I need to know your intentions so that I can provide the best match for you, gentleman." She had to look away to stifle her smile. Even now that she had looked away, she must've had a funny face before she turned because Christian was now laughing his ass off while smacking his palms on his knees repeatedly and throwing his head back.

"My intentions, you say?" He finally calmed down but the smile was still evident on his face. "I want to devour them. I have desired and lusted for them ever since I laid eyes on them."

"Are you talking about my breasts?" She chalked up the courage and blurted out.

She failed to pull off that innocent look because soon, he was laughing again. "That too, but I want the baked goods first."

"Oh! You're talking about them!" She jabbed her thumb at the food and feigned seriousness with a tone that sounded like she had just caught up with what they were talking about.

"Yes, that." He deadpanned wanting to see how much longer she could play this game.

"Well, there's a soufflé, a pudding, a mousse."

"I'm not stupid or blind, Miss Steele." He rolled his eyes as they darted back to the four plates filled with enough food to feed the entire house.

"Oh, well. Then, you can see for yourself. I don't see what's the big fuss about." She folded her hands in her lap and straightened her back to make out a professional and innocent demeanor.

"I guess I'll just eat them." He sighed helplessly, reaching out to pick up one.

She was quick to cover his hand with hers gently like those saleswomen in the store would do to prevent a customer from touching. "They're poisoned," she said in all seriousness.

Rolling his eyes, he reached out and picked up a chocolate chocolate chip cookie. "Then I'll die happily." He munched on the snack and moaned. "Oh, happy day."

"I made a plate of chocolate chip cookies, chocolate funnel cakes, chocolate lava muffins and a chocolate ice-cream cake."

"Did Mia help in any of those?"

"No, I did them on Sunday before I left. I had some help from Gail. I wouldn't let Mia touch anything if I want them to taste as good as you remembered," she said as a matter of factly.

"I think Mia might be better off studying fashion."

"Are you going to sponsor her?"

"What, for Paris?"

"For her studies."

"God, no. She's already using my credit card. Her education is my parents' responsibility."

"She's so lucky to have a rich brother."

"Well, you've got a rich…" he wanted to say boyfriend but they weren't technically dating. _Technicalities… yeah, fuck it._ "Boyfriend." He finished as he stuffed the rest of the cookie inside his mouth and went to pick up the lava cupcake.

"If you want to keep your pretty boy appearance, I suggest you slow down."

"As long as you like my body, I couldn't care less. Now, stop preventing me from engulfing those delicious goodies that my woman has made me." He took a bite of the cupcake and the chocolate syrup instantly flowed out. He held it above his mouth so it was dripping onto his tongue directly. "Tastes exactly like I remembered," he hummed.

"You're starting to eat like Elliot."

"Don't tell him that. I've got a reputation and I know that's already non-existent with you, so I don't care what you see. We're at home anyways. I'm allowed to behave however I wish." He shrugged arrogantly and finished the rest of the muffin-like cupcake in one bite like boys his age would do with food. "No, I mean it, this is between us." He gestured back and forth at the space in between them and went to pick up the funnel cake.

"Okay, you've had enough, pretty boy." She swatted his hands away and pinned them against his body. He could've fought her and win but she did have a point. He had already had a bite of all the dishes and he would probably end up in a sugar-induced coma if he continued to finish them all.

"Don't tell anyone that I've got this in my fridge. Actually," on second thought, he smirked. "Let's put a lock on this fridge."

"You are ridiculous, Christian Grey." Anastasia shook her head. "And, no," she pecked him on his lips that still tasted like chocolate. "You're not going to lock it up. Learn how to share."

"No! I'm not sharing that with anybody! I'd probably share it with you but you won't eat it. You're a health freak."

"That comes with being a doctor."

"No, it doesn't. Have you seen my mom's diet?" Anastasia shook her head no. "She doesn't have one." He finished. "She eats everything and doesn't exercise."

"She's not… big either."

"Yeah, she's not fat when clothed, though I really don't want to know how she looks without them. She looks like every other middle aged women that are occasionally housewives," he laughed as he said the word that she was avoiding to say incase it turned out like an insult. "But, you can because you've got this problem with your gut so you don't absorb properly. Which is why, you're so _thin_." He emphasized the point by squeezing her tiny waist. "And, so tiny and small! You're too light, too. You need to eat more."

"I eat plenty, you know that. You literally gawk at me whenever I eat." She defended. "You know I eat about the same amount as you."

"Yeah, and most of it goes to waste. Your body needs an upgrade," he tutted shaking his head in disapproval.

"Well, are you going to upgrade it?" She challenged.

"I could always find someone to get the job done."

"You make it sound like I'm getting plastic surgery." She snorted very un-lady like but he had gotten used to it, besides they were at home.

"You should've really kicked my sister out that weekend," he said after a while of comfortable silence with them cuddling in the couch and the food all back into the fridge.

"God knows I've wanted to," she suddenly realized that her brain-to-mouth filter had vanished in thin air since she was too relaxed in his presence that she failed to realize they were talking about his family member. "But, I don't want to be rude."

"You're not being rude when you're asking people to leave your house."

"It's not my house though."

"You moved in with me, Anastasia. How is it not your house? You live here even when I'm on business. _This_ is your home." He told her firmly.

"I don't live here. I stay here because Escala is located closer to the main hospitals than Kate's apartment."

"They're really just a few blocks away, Ana." He pointed out. "You live here, and all of your stuff is here, so quit thinking that this isn't your place. It is your place as much as mine." He assured. "Do you want me to add your name to the deed to make it more official?"

"Oh no, please don't." That immediately got her attention. "It's your bachelor pad, keep it. You might want to share it with someone else in the future."

He scowled. "Someone else? Why would there be someone else? Did you meet someone? Have you moved on? Anastasia, you asked me to wait for you and I will. That request goes both ways. Are you changing your mind?"

"Christian," she ran her hands down his chest trying to smooth out the worry. "I'm not changing my mind but I think two years might not be enough."

"We're not giving it a definite time limit but when I promised that I'd wait for you, I truly, really will."

"People change and we can't anticipate those changes. I haven't met anyone yet and I will be waiting for you when we both achieved our goals just like we've planned but I worry that after years of not focusing on our relationship, we might encounter other people that are more suitable." She reasoned but he failed to see the gist of it.

"We meet every now and then, it's not like we're going decades without seeing each other. I mean, our chemistry is still there and I know that our feelings for each other hasn't changed. I can feel it. Even if we are separate for so long, we can still call and text, and as long as we communicate, I think we'll survive."

Anastasia shook her head and sighed. She just wasn't so confident about their situation anymore. She would advocate for a platonic relationship between the two of them but she kind of knew that it would probably make them grow further apart as time dragged on.

"Where are you spending Christmas at?" She changed the subject before they got into a fight about whether they'd work or not.

"Wherever you are."

She sat up a little, staring at him.

"What if I'm spending it with my parents?"

"You won't."

"How do you know?"

"You wouldn't be asking where I'm spending mine if you're spending it with yours."

"Smart ass, that's not true. I could've invited you along."

He lifted his brows. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend the holiday with her folks but she had always been insecure about the humble dwelling that her parents lived in, which she thought looked poor. She was embarrassed the last time she brought him there and she kind of just stopped bringing him over thinking he was too prestige for a place like that. She would shut him out whenever he tried to reassure her that he didn't care if her family didn't come from money.

"Are you really spending Christmas with them?"

"No, they're off to some warmer place. Leaving me to fend for myself." She pursed her lips and grimaced thinking about her parents' supposedly romantic getaway. "It's not like I'm willing to buy a plane ticket when I have other alternatives that doesn't cost as much."

"Like my jet."

She laughed. She was thinking about her savings account reserved for her dream car and her published research papers had become part of her income.

"I'll join you," she told him with finality.

"Oh, good, because I want to take you back to Pike's Place Market. The chocolate shop and that cheese shop. Remember? Or we can go for another theme."

"Another theme."

"For adults," he whispered suggestively.

Anastasia giggled and swatted his chest. "Christian! What happened to us being in a platonic relationship."

"Oh, I never said we have to use them." He laughed, joining her giggles.

…

TWO WEEKS LATER 2013

"Christian! Christian! Christian!" Anastasia bounded into the penthouse, leaving her luggages at the door. She took the red-eye the minute she got off work just so she could make an appearance at the Halloween party for the Seattle elites.

When her voice bounced off of the empty penthouse walls, the voidness was echoing back and hitting her square in the face. Not even Gail or Taylor showed up following the ding of the elevator.

"Where are you?" She sang in her heavy nasal sound which luckily wasn't that obvious when she spoke the sentence through her masked face. "Hello? Is anyone home?" She dropped her purse on the table in the foyer and made her ways into the house.

The kitchen was empty and even the lights were off, which was rare because the lights in the kitchen were always on, at least one of them was lit all the time.

"Come on, Christian. Don't tell me you're setting me up and you're actually celebrating Halloween with your _parents_! Or you're out on business…" she mumbled to herself as she made her way deeper into the house and into the bedroom.

She had a feeling that he would be in his office at this hour in the day but she still went to the bedroom first, she had no idea why. When she entered, she saw Gail in the room with the door left ajar but only a narrow slit, it was no wonder she didn't hear her when she entered.

"Gail? Is Christian going somewhere?" She inquired after witnessing what was displayed before her eyes.

The housekeeper had a suitcase wide open laid on the ground and clothes worth at least a week long's stay on the bed. He looked like he was in the process of moving out. Gail stopped what she was doing and the expression she had was a mixed illustration of concern and shock.

"Where's Christian?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	11. Introducing A New Member

_**Introducing A New Member**_

_"Where's Christian?"_

When Gail just stared at her agape, her entire face froze in that expression and Anastasia didn't know if it was her that had just entered a twilight zone or something because nothing seemed right at the moment.

"What?" She scowled, waving her arms around to get Gail's attention.

"I'm sorry, Ana. Mr Grey said that he's going to Baltimore."

"What?" She repeated the word.

"He doesn't know that you're here and…"

"He's decided that he's going to leave on the day of the event that we're supposed to attend? Does he not think that I would've arrived a tad bit earlier to get ready?" She hadn't had the best sleep on the plane since she bought the cheapest ticket she could find on short notice to fly back just so she could add more pennies into her other account for the sport car.

"I don't know," Gail sighed in distress. "He's a little… off these days." She spit it out.

"What do you mean _off_? Is he sick?"

"I have no idea," Gail shook her head helplessly and resumed her packing.

"Where is he now then? Is Taylor with him?"

"He's at the office."

"What, right now?"

"Yes," Gail nodded her head and she was aware of the look that flashed across the young woman's face as she dashed to the foyer and back into the elevator. She didn't have to ask to know that she was heading toward Grey House.

…

"Miss!"

"Ma'am!"

She could hear the two receptionists voice calling her but she paid them no attention. They should be busy dealing with the people in line, some pretending to be a visitor just so they could see this grand building.

"Taylor," she silently thanked her lucky stars that at least someone picked up her phone and on first ring too. When Christian's number went straight to voicemail, she didn't hesitate to dial his head of security. "Are you at the office?"

She made her way to the security gate and stood at the glass door waiting for Taylor to come fetch her. In her rush to leave the house, she didn't take her wallet and only her phone, so she didn't have her security pass.

"Ma'am," she mentally rolled her eyes when she saw one of the receptionist approach her. She hangup the phone with Taylor after he told her that Christian was only here to retrieve some files and he would be on his way to Sea-Tac.

Anastasia could see the light bulb going off in that woman's mind when she looked up from her phone. The blonde recognized her and she immediately produced her card and swiped it on the system to let her in.

"Thank you," she thanked her and hurried to the elevator hoping she could catch Christian before he left.

She was in such a rush that she nearly ran straight into Taylor when she exited.

"Oh, it's you." Taylor stepped aside after steadying the young lady that had stumbled to a stop just a few feet in front of him. "You didn't have to come all the way up."

"I wouldn't have if one of you just tell me what's going on! Gail only knows so much."

"I didn't know you're back." The man muttered apologetically.

"I flew commercial—took a red-eye." She explained shortly. "I just got off work and went straight to the airport. I guess you didn't know because I didn't take the jet, but I thought you guys track me and stuff."

"No, we don't track you. Mr Grey has specifically asked us not to because he believes it will suffocate you."

"That's very… thoughtful of him," she had no idea what to say to that response. "Is he in the office then?"

"Yes," he appeared hesitant and his lips quivered but nothing came out of it. Clearly he wanted to say something but wasn't able to.

"Is he unwell?" Anastasia's worry only grew by the look on that face.

"Perhaps you should just go in," he suggested. "But, please, just… be prepared."

She nodded slowly and dubiously. Her eyes lingered on Andrea's as if she could suck out the answer from her eyes, then it landed briefly on the intern that she had no idea was hired who was next to Andrea fixing her nails. It wasn't even lunch time yet. It was beyond her as to why Christian would keep her so close to him at work, he could've just thrown her into some subsidiary company that GEH owns instead of the headquarters.

Andrea quickly returned to her work. Perhaps the saying that the eyes were the windows to one's soul was false, because even with half of her face covered with a mask her eyes were still visible, yet people seemed to be getting the wrong impression from it all the way here since she landed in Seattle.

"Christian?" She pushed the door open slowly.

"I said I don't want any interruptions!" He screamed as he shot up from his executive chair behind the desk and marched purposefully to the door, ready to yell at whoever that had just intruded and throw them out. Then, he'd probably yell at Andrea again for allowing said visitor to enter when he gave her specific instructions to not let _anyone_ in.

"Christian, it's me." Anastasia knew her voice may sound a little different since she was sick, but not too ill to not live the day normally.

"Ana? What are you doing here?" He calmed down visibly and it was heartwarming to know that she still had that effect on him.

"For Halloween. You have invited me to an event, remember?"

"You didn't tell me you were coming over."

"Well, I didn't know you'd make plans last minute." She didn't mean it to come out accusingly but it did and she bit her lip as if to bit back the stingy words she had just spoken.

He sighed, and bothered her that he didn't even make an effort to apologize for blowing her off.

"What's the matter?" Obviously something was bothering him more right now.

"I was going to call you and tell you that we can attend that other party on the East Coast."

"But I didn't get any call."

"I forgot about it," he rubbed his hands over his face tiredly and she could see that something was bothering him to the point that he needed alcohol to tame his nerves.

"What happened?"

"I saw this shipyard in Maryland that I really want to obtain."

"Don't you have a port in New York?"

"Yes, but there is more potential in expanding this one because Maryland's port is way less busy than New York's."

"Makes sense," she prompted him to continue. It always helped them when they spoke about their days with each other, even though it wasn't always the most interesting thing to hear, but at least it was comforting to know that they weren't lonely.

"I have done all my research, talked with Ros and consulted all the other executives. I was given the go-ahead."

Anastasia would normally tease him about asking for the green-light from his team since he was known to be some kind of tyrant in the office. She knew that he would ask for permission out of respect to his employees even though he didn't have a board to report to and he was the sole owner to this enterprise. But not today.

"So, we reached out to them and they didn't give me a bloody response until a few weeks ago."

"When did you reach out to them?"

"Months ago. A few weeks before you left Seattle."

"They were radio silence the entire time?"

"It couldn't be the problem of my security team, because it doesn't take them that long to vet an email or a phone call, so I can only blame the company."

"And, what then?"

"I replied to them immediately and held my tongue back without lashing out at them for wasting my time."

She nodded in empathy, she hated it when people waste her time. If they didn't want to work together, then say so at once so she wouldn't bother her again. "That's good."

"Well, they said that they aren't looking for a buyer."

She frowned. "But, didn't you do the research and has confirmed that they are in need of an investor at the least?"

"I did, so obviously they have something to hide. I dug deeper and realized that their system got hacked and the email wasn't sent by them. There was actually several emails in their sent mailbox directed to me but was intercepted before it could reach my server."

"So, they did reply."

"They did, and they asked if I can meet them in October. Apparently, I have replied and said yes, and that was back in July in their first email response."

"So, they have been communicating with this hacker for the past four months?"

"Something like that."

"And, you're still going?" Her voice audibly raised a few octaves to reflect her astonishment.

"I just want to go meet them in person."

"Christian, it's dangerous! You can't just risk yourself like that."

"I knew you'd be yelling at me."

"So, you've decided to just set me up and slip out of Seattle?"

"No," he denied instantly, he would never ditch her intentionally. "I thought I could surprise you but this hiccup with their email server had put me on an edge about security even though it turned out to be a ploy, because some wannabe hacker just wanted to try out their skills."

"So, you lost track of time," she summarized for him, unimpressed.

"Basically."

"You could've called me and told me about this whole thing."

"I told you, I was edgy lately because I thought there was a security breach."

"Well, did any members of your team specifically tell you so?"

"Well, no, but…"

"Exactly! It's not your security that has been threatened, it's theirs, so stop being so paranoid. You employ and assembled the best security team, they are reliable and they have proved to you that you can trust them."

He didn't seem to be feeling any less easy than he was a few minutes ago when he first told her about his misfortunes.

"That's not the only thing that's bothering you, isn't it? You're making a big deal out of nothing because there's something that's really bothering you that you're not telling me about." She sat back down next to him and patted his knees affectionately and in compassion. "That's not it, Christian. Come on, spill your guts to me."

"Have you seen the papers lately?"

"No, should I? You know I don't watch the news or read the newspapers."

"Apparently some pimp, I have no idea who he is, has came out to the media claiming to be my birth father. He said that he's proud of me and that he really wants to see me and tell me about the story between him and my birth mother. Some tragic romance or shit."

"Did he just surface to the internet?"

"Yes, because he's got some cancer and is dying apparently."

Anastasia didn't know what to make of the situation. "What does your security team advise?" She wouldn't even know if she'd want to meet said person if she was in his shoes, let alone suggest or encourage him to make a choice of some sort.

"I didn't ask for their advice, I just told them I needed to process it first."

"When did you receive that information?"

"Last week."

She lowered her head, she had been flying back and forth more in this month than any month, yet nothing big happened when she was there.

"I don't know what to do."

"You don't have to decide right this second, you know?"

"But, I have to make a choice eventually don't I? I just don't want to think about it."

"Then, don't. You have a team of intelligent staff to do the thinking for you and present options for you to choose from. If you don't want to be bothered by it, then it should be the least of your worries."

"It is my business though. He's my birth father."

"Allegedly."

"Have you seen a picture of him? I'm almost like a carbon copy of this guy."

"It's just appearances, Christian. Besides, it's just appearances. He'd done nothing for you in his entire life. Well, other than giving you up for adoption, given that he knows about your existence in the first place."

He shook his head, still vexed from the events from the past couple of weeks.

"Since when are you so trusting with the shit the internet spewed? You never browse the internet."

"I got ambushed."

She was momentarily stunned into silence that her entire body froze. "Wh-what? And, how does that have to do with anything you've just told me?"

"By Elena," he continued, "and some submissive." Even if he had told her of his predilections of brown-haired woman, and she never judged him, though she did disagree with him when he insisted that his preference stemmed from his birth mother.

"How?" She could literally feel her previous words slapping her across her face.

"She sat in my lobby as if she was waiting for someone or was a visitor. Damn near caused a scene until I dragged her to the nearest conference room, which was a crappy room setup for simple security interrogation."

"You talked to her?" She scowled, she didn't like him communicating with her believing that he might fall into her trap again, but they weren't in a relationship anymore.

"She told me about this alleged birth father ordeal."

"And, you believed her?"

"My team verified the source."

"They might be conjured by the press."

"When I said they've verified the source, I meant they've vetted everything!" He snapped impatiently and his attitude now made her feel stupid instead of helpful and compassionate, she thought she was being helpful and making him feel better.

"I'm sorry," she apologized meekly, vowing to not speak another word until he asked her. She still couldn't believe that he could so easily believe a woman like such. Granted, she had a history of manipulating him and he had a history of being controlled by her, perhaps it was still working.

"What happened to you? Are you sick?" He only realized her mask just then, which was very unusual for him. He'd usually forget about all he bothersome details of his life in the past week and dive straight into worrying her, but this time he didn't.

"I have a cold, I'll be fine." She assured, trying for a weak smile but he could see it behind her mask, her eyes were the only indicator for him to gauge her mood.

"You have a cold and you have decided to fly commercial? And, take a red-eye no less? Why can't you just use my jet? Do you have no regard for your health whatsoever at all?"

She slumped into the sofa in shame, duly chastised but also feeing a little defiant at the accusation that was thrown at her.

"Well, I wanted to see you."

"You've thinned," he didn't wait for her to even finish her explanation before he spoke again. His dismissive attitude was making her think if he missed the lifestyle now that he saw a submissive today. It wasn't like he couldn't go back to it, they weren't dating, there were merely friends. "Are you not eating well?"

"I have a perfectly healthy appetite," she quipped trying to sound uplift so it would lift her downward sliding mood.

"Good," he answered. "You should eat more than you need, Anastasia." She nodded in understanding, that was what she did, but she could never gain weight and even if she did she lose them easily. Her weight fluctuates depending on her food intake.

"Are you- Are you still going to Baltimore?" She worked up the courage and blurted out before she swallowed it back. She shouldn't be afraid of him, she had always felt comfortable in his presence, even when he wasn't in the best mood, it was never directed at her.

"Yes, and I leave very shortly."

"So, you won't go to the party there?"

"We can still go to the one in Baltimore," he suggested plainly.

She averted his gaze, honestly she want feeling like attending any public event with him.

"No, it's okay. Go meet with your shipyard, just… be careful, Christian." She offered one final squeeze of his thigh and she stood up, making her way to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"Giving you the space that you clearly needed before I barged in."

He sighed, it wasn't what he wanted. Despite everything that had happened, she was the only person who could possibly offer any kind of solace.

"Would you mind bringing me back in your jet?" She asked without emotion as she stood by the door waiting for his reply. If he wanted her to stay, he had missed his opportunity to ask her because she had gotten the impression that he didn't want to see her.

"Yes, of course. Are you going back?"

"Where else should I be? You're going on a business trip, who am I here for?" She snapped bitterly at him, instantly making him feel like an asshole. "Are you going to straight to Sea-Tac?" Her voice softened a touch.

"Are you?"

"My stuff is still in Escala."

"I can have someone bring it over to the jet."

"Okay, when does the jet leave?"

"In a couple of hours, we can leave now."

"Are you leaving now?"

"I've got everything, so yes." He frowned at her as if she just told him she didn't want to go anywhere with him.

"Okay, I'll see you there."

"Ana, wait!" He was too late to stop her from opening the door so he chased her out of the office and reached her when she was nearly at the elevator.

"What?"

"I'll go with you."

She scowled at him but decided to let him do whatever he wanted, she would just make her way to the airport anyway. He followed her into the elevator and she saw him typing on the phone, which meant that someone was getting the car and she wasn't going to take a cab. Then, Taylor would probably be responsible for getting everything sorted in the office and grab any files he might need. She shook her head pitying the people working for him, if they didn't do as they were told they would be experiencing the wrath of Christian Grey, albeit the instructions sometimes were vague and unclear.

"Kate is in Barbados with her family, Ethan is moving back to Seattle after they return and will be living in Kate's apartment. My parents already went to Washington DC, and I didn't tell anyone that I'd be coming over because… because I wouldn't have flew back if it wasn't for you."

Anastasia confessed as the lift descended from the top floor to the garage. Her eyes never left the penal as spoke softly.

"I'm sorry," he sounded contrite but she wasn't going to give in so easily. "It's just…"

"It's been a rough week for you, I understand."

"You could've called me and told me you weren't feeling well, Ana, and I would've flied over to take care of you."

"I'm not your responsibility, Christian."

"Come here," he tugged her elbow and wrapped his arms around her despite her protests and unwillingness. "I will care for you no matter what our relationship status is. That is never going to change." He rested his cheek on the top of her head. "I am sorry that I drove you away with my actions earlier but that was never my intention. You are the only one that can offer my any kind of solace in situations like that."

She would huff at his words but she wasn't even in the mood to make any kind of response or give any kind of reaction. He had pushed her away when she offered him comfort and now he was saying that he wasn't shoving her away.

"Go take a nap at the back," he nudged her feet gently once the seatbelt sign went out to get her attention. She had been leaning against the window half laying on the couch on the other side of the aisle. He could tell that she was nodding off on and off since the jet started taxing to the runway.

She lifted her head lazily just to peak at him under her lashes. After staring at him for a moment, she turned away and went back on napping.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw movements from him and she knew that he had stood up, but she assumed that he was going to the bathroom or looking for his staff but she just never thought he would come at her. She should've known that he would've forced her on to the bed to sleep after the lack of response she had given him.

"Don't kick me, baby." He whispered when she felt his arms sliding beneath her and lifting her up effortlessly. She made no effort to wrap her arm around his neck but she did feel herself snuggling closer to his chest instinctively.

He felt her nuzzling his chest and it spread warmth across as he lifted her head higher, so he could kiss her forehead since she was still wearing that ridiculous mask that she had possibly taken from outside of the surgery room.

"Work in here," he thought he had misheard when she muttered that request out when he was already by the door. He turned back just to make sure that she had truly made that request but she was already out. He was hoping that she had forgiven him for shutting her out earlier and that they had returned to their usual self.

The sizzling chemistry was back in the air after he spent the entire weekend in her Baltimore apartment taking care of her meticulously. They didn't attend the party in the end and he ended up continuing the negotiation with the company via email and phone. Though, he did drive past the supposed location of the shipyard and scouted the surroundings, it was to his satisfaction; at least from the outside.

…

DECEMBER 2013

Christian had been making biweekly visits since Halloween just to ensure that their friendship was still there and also to look at the shipyard that he really wanted to buy, despite the multiple difficulties that he was encountering starting with the security breach at the very beginning.

News on his "biological father's" front had been quiet these past months, but it still didn't stop his family from pestering him about his thoughts, when the last thing he wanted to do was to think about that guy and the press. Which became another reason why he was flying to Baltimore so frequently.

His trips to the East Coast had been frequent enough to raise suspicion in his family that he was hiding something from them, even when he confessed that he was visiting Anastasia, they still thought something had happened between the two since he rarely spoke of her on the table anymore. Mia had suspected that something happened between them, she tried to get it out of but the blonde said nothing.

Truth was, everything had been a little edgy and rough between the couple since Halloween. She was stressed out from her lab project and him from work. They rarely spent any quality time together because she was always working when he was there, albeit the clashing of their schedules were unintentional. It had produced some kind of unwanted rift between them with their lack of communications.

"Wait, Kate, someone's at the door." Anastasia said to the person in the screen. She hopped down the stool at the kitchen table and skidded to the door in her thick wool socks. She peaked into the car eye and gasped when she saw who was behind it.

She couldn't seem to get the bolts unhooked fast enough as she swung the door open and squealed. The person behind the door sported the happiest face but he wasn't quite sure who exactly she was beaming at.

"Christian!" She jumped into the man's arms, forcing him to place the item he had in his arms down on the floor. He moved them into the room and kicked the door close after spinning her around in absolute delight. "Oh my god, you've gotten so big now!" She then jumped out of his arms and turned to chase the furry thing now running and slipping inside her apartment, as Christian shed his coat and jacket.

"Steele!" Kate yelled from the computer that she had totally forgot about. Her apartment was too small for all the rooms other than the bedroom and the bathroom to be separated. She didn't even have a guest room. "Do you have a kid with the guy? It was never updated on his Wikipedia page even through you were still put down as his partner, but I think it's time for me to link your name to the page that I've been working on about you."

"Kate!" Anastasia screamed as she ran behind the table. "You made a page of me?"

"If I know your reaction would be like that I'd really make one. Holy shit, Steele, is that what got you squealing like a high schooler?" The blonde finally noticed the fur ball cradled in her chest.

"Mm hm," Anastasia nodded her head rapidly and stroked the pet. "He's a St. Bernard. It's a He right?" She looked up to confirm it with Christian, who nodded. "And, he probably ran out of his shelter and we found him at the carnival."

"When you guys were on a date?"

"Yep," she beamed at her best friend. "His name is Taco." Anastasia giggled as she introduced and announced the name.

"Taco." Kate deadpanned. "Like the food?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Sounds suitable," she offered, which was a shit explanation.

"And, he gave it to you as your Christmas present?"

"I don't know because you never gave me the chance to talk to him since you have been constantly nagging in my ear for the past ten minutes since he arrived."

"Ana, I truly think you shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"We're not going down that lane again," she warned but Kate didn't listen. "Okay, bye." Anastasia decided and slammed the top down. "What?" She glanced at Christian who was silently laughing at her.

"I wonder what she's referring to," he teased.

"I'm not changing my mind. We had a deal, and you agreed to the reasons behind it. So, just stick to it." She urged knowing that he had understood what her best friend was not so implicitly referring to.

"So, you hang up on her?"

"Well, would you like to hear her out? She's another hopeless romantic, after my mom, your mom and possibly Mia."

"Oh, so we're surrounded by hearts and flowers women?" He joked.

"You know I appreciate flowers from you right? Because you're important to me so anything you give me is nice. But, yeah, I ain't a fan of telenovelas. Perhaps, that's because of the cynical property of my job."

"My mom is also a doctor," he argued.

"She's a pediatrician, she works with kids. Her job requirement says she needs to be kind, thoughtful and amiable, and patient, but I work in the operation room. I drug people for a living, Christian."

"You could've give someone an overdose."

"Don't jinx my career before it even starts," she jested, stabbing his chest with a finger. "Anyways, tell me about this fella," she said holding the puppy up.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing! **

**X**


	12. Happiness is Always Short Lived

_**Happiness is Always Short Lived**_

Surely it was confusing for a puppy a few months old to get used to two similar set of rules at two different places, along with time difference. Taco managed it pretty well—all things considered. He had peed around the corners here and there a few times to begin with but was soon potty trained.

"He learnt his name pretty quickly," he told her after admitting that he had had this pup for about a month already since before Thanksgiving, he just never brought it to her when he visited thinking she might not be ready yet.

"And, he likes you so much," she cooed when the puppy kept escaping her hold just to hop into his lap. "Taco," she summoned but the puppy gave no inclination to approach the new owner. "How long do you have for Christmas? Well, I mean, for your employees. You never take a day off even on holidays, it is no wonder you're a millionaire in your early twenties."

"That way it takes weights off of my daily workloads so I'm not spreading myself thin like _some_ people with their lab reports."

"I do take extensive notes."

"But you never take the time to go through them and put them together until the last minute. Your notes resembles an unorganized lab report."

"Fair enough," she conceded. "So, answer me then."

"I am giving myself two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"I will work but just not full time. I will be on call like you doctors."

"So, I am assuming that you're going to spend Christmas and New Year's Eve with me?"

"I'm going to be here until the end of the first week in January. If you don't have other plans and don't mind having me here, that is."

"Oh, no, please stay for as long as you want, it's just that I don't have that long."

"It's fine. There have been so many occasions where I flew here for the weekend only to find you working on both days. We'll find time for each other."

"I think it's best that you're here for two then," she pointed at the fur ball curled up comfortably in his lap, his head tucked away in between its paws. "Taco needs to get use to the transition." He didn't have to explicitly tell her that he was leaving the puppy here because he knew that when she saw the little pup, there was no way she'd let him bring it back.

"Maybe I could stay longer," he suggested but got a stinky eye from her.

"Stop trying to play hooky from work, I thought _someone_ wants to be a billionaire before they turn thirty."

"Oh, I do, and I still have a few more years. I know, I'm counting 'em."

She shook her head at his display of carelessness but she knew how hardworking he was so she wasn't worried about him not achieving his goal, she was just worried about the factors and obstacles that might stray him away from his target. He wasn't easily derailed and his mind wasn't easily altered, but if one knew his weakness, like the Achilles' Heel, one shot and it was jackpot for the shooter.

"Any more news?" She started another conversation tentatively as their hands both rested on the puppy, barely touching each other as they stroked its fur.

"Nothing big thats worth mentioning."

"Did he reach out again?"

"They released a video footage of him saying that he was proud of me. It was recorded when I first made the paper as the youngest millionaire, a bachelor no less."

"So, your alleged biological father isn't a heartless pimp as you described? Perhaps there's a story between your parents, and something tragic happened that led to the worst."

"There might be, but I'm not interested."

She didn't want to appear judgmental because she wasn't judging, and she also wasn't going to question his decision because she would've hated the person if she was in his shoes.

"I thought about releasing a statement but that might just play into his hands if he's only trying to get my attention for, let's say, cash."

"What about Elena?" She asked, nodding in acknowledgement at his previous sentence.

"Nothing on that front," he shook his head and sighed exasperatedly. "I don't know what she's up to but I have a feeling that she's brewing something, and that ambush is a warning. I just don't know if it's the last."

"Revenge because you won't go into business with her? She looks awfully young for a woman her age. I do think that is also a reason why some people remained friends with her, which was why she was still invited to function."

"She married her plastic surgeon."

"He's a plastic surgeon?"

"Makes a decent amount."

"Must be someone good."

"He was the best in all of Seattle until he took her as a client."

"Oh, man. Is that man blind or something?"

"No. There's no mutual attraction between them. Their marriage is more of convenience. It's an open marriage publicly acknowledged. He liked her inheritance and she liked his skills to make her look younger."

"So, he basically threw his entire career away for money that he could've easily earned if he continued in that field?"

"That about sums it up."

"This is fucked up."

"That's not it. They also made a sex tape that got 'leaked' online."

"What, does she want to be the next Kim Kardashian?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "Perhaps," shrugging.

"What happened to the husband?"

"He died," he replied simply, just uttering the words with no additional emotions. "He left her nothing but their house out of obligation in his will. It wasn't like he's some kind of rich guy in the first place. Then, she took her trust fund and started her salons."

"The one she wanted you to invest in?"

"The very same." He affirmed. "She needs investors but I'm not going to be one of them and I wouldn't be bothered to put out words to stop her from getting money simply because I don't want to be associated with her in anyway. She isn't going to get anyone big since her customer list is pretty shit."

"Is she on the verge of bankrupting?"

"Oh, god, no. I wish though, but no. She's got herself some decent monetary sources, I just don't know what method she used to obtain them."

"What makes you think she's up to something?"

"She's never ambushed me with a sub before. Sure, she's pressured me to take on a sub previously, since she was the one that had introduced me to that lifestyle, but the days where I'd use her as a pimp are over."

"Do you pay her?"

"No, but I guess it is a way for her to maintain an ounce of control over me since she was so willing to provide me with girls when I am not rewarding her with anything."

"God, she really is something."

"I don't know what she's up to, and I know that with our picture splattering across the internet since this time last year looking all loved up and cozy together, she's going to think that she's completely lost control over me."

"Does she have it in the first place?"

"Sure, in the beginning when I didn't realize her motives for giving me women."

"But then you willingly submitted yourself to her even after you've realized why she's supplying you with submissives?"

"I could make excuses and say that it was to keep her unsuspicious but that'd just be an excuse made in hindsight. In a way, that's just me being lazy. She's a free source, so I used it. At the time, I don't see the harm in her pimping for me."

"And, now?"

"That's what bothers me. I can't seem to figure out what she's doing. All that I am certain is that she's seeking revenge. She's going to avenge for her salons because she thinks they are entitled for a higher status in the society."

"Can your security do anything at the moment to help?"

"They would if they knew where to look or even the general direction."

"You're just basically shivering in the dark?"

"Pretty much." A small wry smile forming on his lips at her summary of the situation.

"Perhaps she's desperate now."

"Desperate for what?"

"Your attention."

"I do pay her a fair share at those charities that I cannot avoid. You saw us. You just never interacted with her but you know that I did because I have to put up a front to avoid my mom's suspicion."

"Why can't you just tell her?" He glared at her. "Right, that's a no-brainer…" she apologized. "Taco," she tried again, leaning forward and shook the poor puppy awake. "Is he jet lagged?" She asked curiously when the puppy turned its head to her lazily.

"No, he's just bored because we're talking and no one's paying attention to him."

"Taco, come here." Anastasia summoned again, clapping her hands and this time the puppy moved. It jumped from Christian's lap and bounded to her. "There's my boy." She pulled the pup in her lap and started to make a fuss with his head. "How old is Elena?" She asked while her hands were still ruffling the soft fur and her attention focused on the St. Bernard now settling in her lap comfortably having apparently recalled her scent from the carnival.

"In her fifties. I have no idea exactly how old is she but she's in her late fifties that I am sure of." Taken aback by the question he wondered where that came from. "I never asked, but how was your birthday weekend with your parents?"

He flew in on the day of her birthday with her parents and the latter stayed the weekend while he had to fly back right away. Kate also came from New York for the weekend. He quite literally left when he was in the middle of something because of her birthday and he just wanted to wish her a happy birthday in person, also as an excuse to invite the Steeles on his jet. He wasn't trying to impress them but he still wanted to maintain a good relationship with her parents even though they were no longer dating.

"It's was fun but I had to work so we didn't really do much. Thank you for flying them over again."

He chuckled wanting to tell her that it was just in his convenience but he didn't, he just nodded accepting her appreciation.

"How did your birthday go? I still regret not taking a day off just to go see you. You even offered to send your jet."

"I did miss you," he admitted, "but it was fine. The usual. My family threw me a party. No surprise there."

"Elena?"

"Oh, that reminds me. She cornered me at my parents' asking me to take one of the girls that she had recommended."

"How many did she recommend?"

"A few I think. I never opened her email but kept it there for future reference and also to keep as evidence."

"Evidence?"

"Like I said, I think she's up to something and I needed to save as much as I needed to prove that I'm the victim here."

"You were willing though. To contract submissives."

"Yes but I can argue that I was abused and I am manipulated into thinking that it is the only lifestyle that I am capable of."

"Weren't you seeing a therapist?"

"Yes?" He answer reflected the confusion he felt at the turn of events.

"Then, why didn't he make you realize otherwise? If, as you said, you were a victim and was made to believe that being a Dominant was the only way to have any sexual experience, then why didn't your therapist make you explore other options? He could've opened you up to more choices in life."

"I didn't want to listen. I'm not willing to change. I was content with the lifestyle so I wasn't bothered."

"So, you were wasting your money on this therapist."

"What do you mean?"

"You weren't making progress with him at all."

"The lifestyle isn't wrong. You said so yourself when I first told you about my past. You said you understand that it's a choice that people make and you are fine with it as long as you don't get involved. Which you never have, and I've never even thought about doing anything remotely similar with you."

"No, it's not. I stand by my statements. What I'm saying is that as a shrink, he should have the ability to either make you think differently or realize that the treatment is fruitless."

"We did make progress, just not in this department. You know that I have a lot of baggages. He got me over my touch issues and I have accepted the fact that I was a victim of abuse, twice. It took me this long to finally accept that Elena didn't do me any good other than discipline me with a twisted method."

Anastasia was silent, she had finally voiced her doubt for his shrink and now it seemed like she needn't worry about it in the first place. Though, she still thought he could've reached this conclusion a little quicker if the therapist just offered a more intense plan for him.

"Okay, I apologize for overstepping my boundaries and questioning the validity of your therapist. It is none of my business and I am in no place to even voice those concerns. I am sorry, I had no right to ask."

"It's fine," Christian answered softly. A part of him saddened when she said that it wasn't her business because in his mind, she was still his business and as long as she didn't tell him that she had a boyfriend, he wasn't going to step back. Another part of his heart fluttered when he heard that she was concerned about his therapy progress.

As the atmosphere became denser around them and the mood plummeting, another thought entered her mind.

"I need to tell you something, and you're not going to like it."

She thought it was best if she got it out before the mood lift. Might as well just take advantage of this darkened environment. At least that was what she thought but that was obviously not the case for Christian.

"Why do you always have to tell me bad news at some events that are supposed to be happy? The last time you told me you're moving across the country the first time I introduced you formally to my parents as my girlfriend and brought you into the family. And now you're here telling me something that I'd hate to hear on a holiday that we can spend together alone."

She lowered her head and fiddled with the few streak of fur in her hand. Even the presence of Taco couldn't lift the spirit now.

"I'm sorry but they always make announcements at those peculiar times…" she excused thought it was hardly valid.

"Just tell me what you have to tell me so I can have time to process."

"I got accepted into a program in Scandinavia."

"I am kind of expecting something along the lines of that."

"Did you know about the program?" She frowned.

"No," he shook his head deciding to push his empty feelings aside and focus his attention on congratulating and supporting her career. It was nice to see her accomplished and happy in her own areas of expertise. Even though it was far from him geographically. "I just had a feeling that you'd be telling me something like either you're going away or just… nothing that would have a positive impact on our relationship."

"You think the actual physical distance will have a negative impact on us?"

He didn't make a sound.

"Christian, as cruel as this sounds, we aren't together. We are friends, that's all. It is a platonic relationship."

He sighed. He knew that and he wish he could change their status but it just wasn't the right time. In their situation, they just couldn't have both and he truly believed that they might hinder each other's professional progress if they start a romantic partnership.

"The distance might not have a direct positive impact on our relationship but friendship survives far easier than a relationship. I hate to break it to you, Christian, but I do believe that putting our feelings aside and focus on this platonic relationship that we have as close friends will yield a result that we both desire. We can't rush and make a decision now only to regret it later in the years and play the blame game."

"I would never have blamed you for anything."

"You're quick to say that now but that won't be the case if anything really did happen between us. Look, I can already sense a fight starting to brew if we continue down this path, so let's just stick to what we've agreed to and forget about how we actually feel about each other."

She averted his gaze and once again, returned her focus to the puppy in her lap. It had become a welcomed distraction from their heavy conversation. She felt like throughout the year that they had known each other, she still wasn't entirely sure of his intentions. Perhaps it was his initial idea that got them together that threw her off balance; the contract. Or, maybe it was just because she felt like she was expressing more of herself to him than reciprocated. She thought she knew him and knew what he was feeling but the few countable incidents told her that she didn't know him all that well.

"How long are you going to be gone?" He agreed with her because he also felt like the tension was growing and if he didn't change the subject, the night would probably be ruined completely.

"A year."

"When do you leave?" He made no reaction to her answer just yet, he was only letting her response sink in.

"March."

"Do you need the jet?"

"No," she said quickly. "I don't know," she corrected. There was nothing against him or the jet or his offer, it just didn't sit well with her that she was utilizing his resources. To her, a round trip to Northern Europe would definitely not be worth it for the jet since it wasn't for the company or the owner, and she didn't want to take advantage of having these resources at hand. "I don't know the schedule yet. They might want to leave together."

"Where are you going?"

"Copenhagen. There's a team assembled from all over the US to carry out this brain study funded by the United States, so I'm not sure if the team is leaving together from DC or we will be meeting there."

"Will you use the jet if you are not leaving with the team?" He propositioned and she hated it when he did that, because more often than not the answer would come out displeasing him and she hated to disappoint him.

"You shouldn't…"

"Will you use it?" He repeated his question again cutting her off.

"Probably not."

"Why?"

"Because it's your jet, Christian."

"I told you that you have carte blanc to it, and what about Taco?"

That was a good point and it caught Anastasia.

"I can leave it to you."

"He's your dog."

"I really wasn't in a position to have him, and still not."

"You told me you've settled down and I can see it in your eyes that you want this puppy desperately."

"I didn't know I would be given this assignment when I decided that I want it."

"Then, let me call the directer of this program after everything is settled, and I will tell them that this dog will accompany you."

"Why not just get him licensed as some kind of therapy dog or a service dog."

"He's not even one."

"He will be soon and you're leaving in March. It's not like there's an age limit to therapy dogs."

"We won't have time to enroll him into any kind of training facility."

"It's only December, we have three months. It's enough."

"I don't have any emotional issues that will require a therapy dog."

"Fine, then I'll get Flynn to assign it to me."

"What do you have?"

"Trypanophobia."

"You're afraid of needles?"

"Don't! Even say the word." He winced.

"Okay," she complied quietly. "Sorry."

"I can have them write it off as anxiety. Getting a simple license like that is easy. The laws around this aren't strict. Anyone can say that they have anxiety and have an emotional support dog."

She nodded, accepting the logic.

"That could work," she pondered still not entirely convinced.

"Are you going to start blaming me for taking it home now?"

"No," her head snapped up at his slightly offensive tone. "Did I give you that impression?" She immediately went into defensive mode.

As if to break the tension, Taco leapt up from Anastasia's lap and made a bee line for the bed set up for him earlier. It was just a normal cozy bed for a pet and according to Christian, he usually end up on the floor anyways, since sleeping on the mattress was too warm for a dog living on the snow mountains. His fur coat was really thick.

"I'm calling it a night," she inhaled deeply and exhaled through her mouth. "Do I need to do anything about…" she pointed in the general direction of the puppy who was curled up in the center of his bed looking bored.

"No," he dismissed it with a shook of his head quickly. "No, he'll just adapt and sleep through the night." It was what he said but he wasn't planning on sleeping until he got the puppy outside to pee so it wouldn't do so inside at night. "Where… am I sleeping?" He asked with heavy uncertainty, it was more of a murmur under his breath than a question meant for her ears, but she heard it either way. Her apartment was just that small.

"I would offer the couch but there really isn't enough space, so you can share my bed." She replied over shoulder not even turning around once.

He sighed with a low whistle at how the events of tonight turned out. He was only hoping that they would return to their old selves by the time Christmas arrived.

Which was in just a few days.

…

Anastasia dumped her purse on the carpet and threw herself onto the couch, propping her feet up in the air still with her boots on. There were white snow on the surface and ice melting into droplets if water now rolling down the side of her heels slowly.

"Is it snowing again?"

"Rain," she groaned. "I hate this weather!

"Should've stayed in Seattle." He countered chirpily.

"It still snows and rains."

"Rain, yes, when does Seattle not rain? Snow, much less than here."

"No, not tempting enough."

The tension wasn't completely resolved but they had managed to somehow work around it every time a sensitive topic approached. And now, they were arguing about something new which all started with a joke that Christian made about moving her back to Seattle so she didn't have to endure all the hardship that she was going through here. From the smallest detail of having to by groceries and cook after a long day of work. It was starting to get on her nerves.

She just came back from a dinner meeting with her department and the fatigue was finally catching up on her.

"Are you working through Christmas Eve?"

"I don't have night shifts unless I'm assigned to the ER, which I'm not."

"No, I mean, on that day."

"Yes. I am working Tuesday to Saturday like usual."

"On Christmas Day and New Year's Day?"

"Yes, both weeks that you're here." She held back an exasperated sigh in hopes that she didn't rouse his mood by her attitude.

"Don't they give you holidays?"

"I am a doctor, do you see hospitals shut down for holidays?"

"Don't tell me you're working full day."

"No, actually." She sat up suddenly. "Just the morning. I'm sorry for the misinformation, I am so tired."

"It was written all over your face. Did you eat?"

"Yes, and now I'd like to go to bed. You coming?" For once, she was trying to be nice because he wasn't the only one that wanted to get rid of the unknown tension. Though, this did prove her point that long distance relationship wouldn't work, and she was grateful that they weren't dating.

"I'll be there in a moment," and his eyes went back to the computer screen.

Once Anastasia had retired to bed, Christian could no longer pretend that he was focused on doing work. He had to do something. He knew eh should've said yes when she invited him earlier, and even if they weren't a couple, he had learned it the hard way that going to bed angry was never going to end well.

So, he shut off his computer and followed her steps. The door was left ajar and the room was dark—it was just how she liked it. She would never fully shut the door when they sleep because she was afraid of the dark. She said that her imaginations would run wild if she was emerged a pitch black enclosed space, and she would start to freak herself out, so she never sleep in complete darkness.

He quickly shed his clothes and took off his socks and climbed into bed only to find Anastasia sleeping on the side he usually occupied. He let out a chuckle, this wasn't the first time that it happened.

They never specified who would sleep on which side since they would always end up in the middle together, and sometimes the other would come to bed late so the spot nearest to the door would be left unoccupied, unless one felt like choosing sides.

"Christian," she reached out for him when she felt him starting to move from the night stand where he'd just emptied his pockets. Her fingers brushed his forearm lightly and caught his attention.

"Yes, baby?" For some reason, that endearment just never went away. It would always accidentally slip out of his mouth and since she never protested about it, the name just stuck.

"Where are you going?" Her hand fought against his light light grasp and ran its course over his toned stomach, his muscles contracting involuntarily under her feathery touch.

He turned slightly and sat down on the edge of the bed so he could see her face clearer under the night lamp from the hallway. The longer he stared at her the more he wanted to blurt out compliments of how beautiful she truly was and how lucky for him to have her as a constant in his life, but he refrained himself.

"I just want to go to the other side."

"No, don't go!" She grabbed him again when he was prepared to stand up and move around the bed. Scooting and shifting, she managed to leave enough space for him to climb in and she lifted the cover inviting him under.

"Why won't you let me go to the other side?" He asked curiously once she had settled herself in the crook of his arm and her leg thrown over his midsection. It reminded him the way she would sleep spread eagle on the bed only for him to physically move her to the side to give himself enough space after attempting to rouse her with no avail.

"You might trip over my clothes," she muttered, now closing her eyes and drifting off.

He laughed softly, this only happened too often but he though it was adorable, and something about seeing her pile of clothes on the room that he was sleeping in was oddly comforting and a strangely soothing sight in the morning.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	13. Lip Sync Battle is Bitter Sweet

_**Lip Sync Battle is Bitter Sweet**_

"You ordered take-out? Who would deliver stuff on the night of Christmas Eve? Is that my dinner?" Anastasia's eyes never left the dining table since she first made it through the door after detecting the scent from the outside of the apartment.

"Do you not think that I can cook?"

"Well… no. The last time I checked, you still are useless in the kitchen."

"Well, I took lessons from Gail. Turns out that it really isn't all that hard."

"You must've grasped the essence of cookery then. I'd definitely choose baking over cooking."

"I did," he announced proudly.

"Have you eaten?"

"I was waiting for you. Can't spend Christmas Eve alone."

A smile lit up on her face which brought on to his. She quickly discarded her coat and ditched it on the sofa having not fully settle in since she was distracted by the delicious smell of food when she first entered the room.

"I never greeted you properly," she opened her arms and waited for him to step in. They swayed from side to side just basking in each other's warm embrace.

"It's Christmas Eve, so I thought I'd show off my newly acquired skills."

"I was going to suggest that we eat out," she rested her chin on his chest, looking up at him through her lashes.

"Have you made any reservations?"

"No, because you can always get us one last minute if you are down for the idea. I didn't really think it through, and I had forgot that today's Christmas Eve actually."

"Oh, evidently. I was thinking of ways to answer you if you come through the door asking me what's the occasion?"

"But," she giggled, "this is so sweet," and her grin widened. "I missed a home cooked meal that's not cooked by me. And, yours looks mouth-watering."

"Shall we eat then?"

"Yes, please."

"Sit, and I will serve you." She complied, all the time looking the happiest and most content she had been in a long time.

"Oh," she suddenly remembered, nearly dropping her wineglass but she was now restless in her seat; with excitement. "I have great news," and that put the anxiety out of Christian instantly. He sagged in relief. "I'm given a day off tomorrow." She announced.

"That means I can get you drunk tonight!" He exclaimed, clinking their glasses together as if to toast.

"Drunk? Oh, no, please, Christian." She protested weakly but made no attempt to move her wineglass out of his reach. "Christian!" She cried. "That's enough," she giggled when the crimson liquid toppled over the brink and started rolling down her fingers then to her hands and flowing down her wrist and onto her arm. "Christian! Stop!" Her giggles were now covering up her loud protests, but he didn't stop—pretending to be a love-sick fool drooling over his dream girl as he poured her wine while staring her with starry eyes.

"This is a bottle of expensive wine," when he finally stopped, he laughed at her as she tried to take a huge gulp from the glass without spilling more content, also wary of staining her clothes. That awkward pose.

"And, I liked it, so don't waste it!" She snapped at him playfully. "My days to sneak alcohol here and there are over," she reminisced about the days before she met him when she was still low-key working at a bar.

He chuckled at her swaying body language. The radio was playing Christmas carols softly in the background. The more he stared at her relaxed and carefree form the more he wanted to take advantage of tonight. Added with the liquid courage, he was more than ready to risk the cold shoulder from her tomorrow for the enjoyment of one night.

"Here's to not getting drunk, then!" He toasted with half a glass while hers was still full. He made a mental note to stock up more of this wine. He kind of guessed that this would be the kind that she liked; it was dry and sweet and the color was dark.

"Too late for that," she threw her head back laughing while finishing the very last drop in the glass. "I think I'm already beyond tipsy," she confessed. "Oh my god," she hiccupped. "The food will all probably taste like wine now," she giggled at the rest of the food on the table.

"We'll finish it, don't worry," he waved it off like it was no-big-deal. Granted, he didn't make too much to begin with. He could feel the wine taking effect given that he was the one who finished the remaining bit in the bottle in one gulp. Though, she was the one that drank the majority of the bottle since she liked it so much he saved most for her.

"But, it tastes weird now," she scrunched up her nose and whined as she dipped a finger scooping clean the side of the mashed potatoes bowl, it was a little stained by the wine from his poor pouring skills earlier.

"Does it?" He challenged when he saw it on her face that she still enjoyed the dish just like when it was first served to her. She nodded her head just for the sake of sticking to her own claim. "But, somehow that moan tells me something entirely different," he teased her, taking her hand and putting the finger in his mouth as he sucked it clean.

"Did you bring another bottle?" She asked giggling seeing now that they didn't have anything to drink anymore.

"I did," he raised his brows just to see how she would react.

"Did you really?" She questioned, her eyes showing all kinds of distrust at his statement.

"I did," he nodded again, chortling with her hand still grasped tightly in his.

"I don't believe you; prove it." She demanded, pretending to sound annoyed and scowled when all she did was look adorable to him.

"You'll have to let go of my hand, you know?" He tugged at his hand gently when he realized that he wasn't the one grasping her hand anymore when he let go.

"Oh," she blushed, immediately letting go of his hand as if it was going to damage her skin.

He went to the fridge and produced another bottle. He was lucky that she had been so busy lately that she didn't even get a chance to open her previously very empty but now fully stocked fridge.

"How many bottles did you bring? And, how come I don't know about them? They were in my fridge this whole time weren't they?"

"Yep, they are. This is the last bottle that I brought from Seattle, but you know I can send more." He taunted, half suspecting that she would ask for more.

"This is enough, for now. I think…" she giggled, admiring the heavy container that was now in her hands.

"We're not consuming anymore alcohol tonight, Dr Steele," he declared, prying the wine bottle from her hands when she reached for the cork screwer.

"We're not?" She pouted her lips innocently. The faint blush on both of her cheeks from the wine making the expression even more inviting. He bit his lip unconsciously out of nervousness and also to rein in his own wild thoughts. When he decided to take advantage of the situation tonight, he didn't mean sex. He just wanted to be close to her.

"No," he chuckled, reflecting his uneasiness. "We're not," he echoed, repeating her words.

"You've drank more than half of that bottle!" He pointed to the empty one now sitting at the far end of the table.

"That means," she slurred, and he knew there was a bit of acting mixed in it to make her sound more alluring, sexy, and seductive. "you drank the rest," she giggle loudly when he suddenly started to laugh at her no-brainer sentence.

"I did," he sauntered back from the fridge and stood in front of her. "How's the mash?" He asked again, wanting her honest opinion after getting tainted by a few droplets of wine.

"Still really good," she complimented sincerely, already forgetting her earlier egoistic comment about how he had ruined it. "We should finish it," she took the bowl from the table and hugged it to her lap.

"Yes, you should."

"Me? Just me? How about you help a little?" She cried out in protest, while her fingers didn't stop dipping into the bowl. He took a step closer to her, now trapping her on her stool with her back against the table.

"But, they're all carbs," he whined pretentiously. "And, I should watch what I'm eating. I need to stay in shape. Eating carbs at night will make me gain weight." He patted his very toned stomach and made an impression of a typical girl on a diet to starve herself so she didn't have to workout to lose weight but appeared sickly thin.

She giggled nonstop throughout his improve, the bowl in her hands shaking with her laughter and she could barely dip her finger in them because she was giggling too hard.

"Oh my god," she took a deep breath to steady herself.

Christian had already took the bowl from her in case she accidentally dropped it and smashed the porcelain. Finally calming down from her fits of giggles, she casually turned around to grab the bowl to resume her eating. But, one unintentional glance at Christian who was still hovering above her caging her triggered her into another round of giggles, and this time he was absolutely clueless what was going on with her.

"I can't stop!" She screamed in frustration, still giggling into his chest and clutching onto his shirt, leaving a faint greasily stain. "Is this how I get when I'm tipsy? Or borderline drunk?"

"I don't know. I've honestly never seen you drunk before."

"We never drink around each other," she was still giggling.

"We do. We just don't get drunk!"

"I haven't drank this much since… I don't know… probably the first time working in the bar."

"You were drunk while you worked?" He sounded slightly astonished but more concerned and disturbed.

"No, after my very first shift. Before," hiccup, "I got on stage."

"You just want some quick pocket money."

"Hey! I was saving up for my research," she nearly blurted out her secret project to save up for a Lamborghini.

"What are you doing with those money now that you have me as your one and only sponsor?"

"For a car maybe," she shrugged, that was almost the entire truth but she had a feeling that he had picked up on it.

"Why didn't you tell me that you want a car" There it was.

"It was my side project. I have a car that works, so there is no need for a second one. I just want to save up just in case I need it in the future. Not necessarily for a dream car, but for insurance, perhaps." She rambled, trying to talk her way out, and she knew he could read her like a damn open book.

"I will keep it in mind," he hummed, not buying her seemingly legit explanation. "Now, are you done licking the bowl? If you like it so much, I can make it for you tomorrow. You can have it as much as you'd like for the rest of the days that I'm here, and also when you come to Seattle to see me."

"Maybe not so frequent. I do need to watch my diet."

"Bullshit, you don't! I hope you were joking about watching you diet."

"I am joking," she placated. "i would do anything to gain a few pounds and not lose them so easily." She placed the bowl into the sink and washed her hands thoroughly with soap. After all, she had just ate like a toddler and she was surprised to find her cloth rather clean. Though, Christian's wasn't quite the case from his cooking earlier and also her greasily palm print.

"I will be stuffing you with food then. Since you only work half day, with the exception of today since you went to the lab. I will be cooking you food, or buying them from places. You just get your butt home on time for lunch. Deal?" He slapped her ass playfully, leaning against the counter next to the sink and watched her run her soapy hands under the water like a hawk.

"Okay, I better not get used to it."

"Now, I'm worried."

"I will be fine, Christian. If you want to , spoil me whenever we see each other."

"Oh, I intend to and I insist on spoiling you."

"Good, you can act like those house-husbands that managed the domestic dealings of the house."

"I like the sound of it," he grinned, pulling her over right after she dried her hands, he guided her arms around his waist and his around her back. "It's almost midnight," he swayed them together with his forehead resting against hers and their nose almost touching. His eyes were wide open because he wanted to remember moments like this where they were so intimate and she was melting in his arms; her eyes closed and the look of pure bliss on her face.

"And, what do you propose we do?" She blinked open her large blue eyes only to find him staring right back at her. Her orbs were crystal clear tonight, and it was cleansing his soul through his eyes. He stopped moving for a second just to gaze into her eyes, and when he placed a kiss on her forehead she closed them again. He knew she was enjoying their closeness just like he was; seizing every intimate moment they shared together.

"We can," he knew despite with her closed eyes, she was still very much expecting an answer from him. "Have a lip sync battle," he had no idea where that idea came from, and he didn't even remember this TV program until he made this suggestion.

Her eyes shot open. "Did you plan this ahead?"

"No!" He couldn't help but return her skeptical look with a mocking gaze. "I know how this looks," he continued with mirth. "This is typically where a guy uses a song to express his feelings for a girl and then make some grand gesture like leading to a marriage proposal or something. I know, it's how romantic movies or TV shows work. Mia gushes about it all the time."

"It was sweet but kind of awkward. I mean, what if the girl doesn't actually want to marry the guy?"

"Oh, but that's now how romantic movies work, is it? You just aren't a romantic, you won't understand, so get real." He laughed and teased her, poking her nose with his finger tip.

"It's not like we're in a romantic setting anyway," she shrugged agreeing.

Way to pour cold water on their moment.

"So? What do you say about the suggestion?" He resumed, pretending she didn't just make that comment, and blaming it on the alcohol.

"Do you have a playlist in mind?"

"I thought we could use your iPod."

"How about yours?"

"Mine's just got classic music, like piano music or like those symphonies." He was lying and he knew he would get called out if she was sober, which was also why he was so bold right now. He just wanted to see what was on her playlist because she changed them so constantly based on her mood. He only had songs that were requested by his previous subs for when they were in a scene, and he never listened to them again.

"Fine," she relented and ran to her bedroom as steadily as possible. She stumbled back out, unplugging the attached earphones and tossing them carelessly onto the couch as she walked past it. Reaching the music stand where the radio was still playing softly even though none of them was paying attention to it. "Did you turn on the radio?" She asked as she fiddled with her iPod speaker. "I never know how to switch a channel. My dad tried to teach me, but I just can't understand. I never get the right station to play. This thing is too old-fashioned, it's not even digital." She lamented as she plugged her iPod to the stand so it could start charging to turn on since it was so old.

"I'll try to teach you again, while your iPod charges and restarts." He suggested, moving to the stand. "I'm just trying to prove that you're not a lost cause with this radio thing."

"Oh, you probably haven't heard what my dad's saying about it. He was literally complaining to my mom when he tried to teach me. I'm described like a retard in his words."

He laughed a full belly laugh while darting his eyes between the old radio machine and its alleged owner.

"Let me try," he declared confidently. Though, that confidence was starting to waver the moment he tried and failed to explain frequencies and wavelengths of different stations.

"You've lost me, Christian. Stop talking like my dad and don't teach me the fundamental reasons behind how radios work. I just want to know how to switch this goddamn thing! Call me an old lady, but I just need to know what to do."

He laughed again, and genuinely agreeing with her very logical request. "Basically, you have to adjust all of these to make sure that the sound you're hearing is clear with no fuzzy noises in the background." He moved the aerial, rotated the two rotors as he went through with his very simplistic instructions. "Let me use the terms you might be more familiar with," he said with mirth and a mocking smile, she scowled at him but allowed him to continue, teasing her along the way. "This," he pointed to the bigger screw, "is the coarse adjustment, and this," he pointed to the smaller screw in the concentric circle, "is the fine adjustment." She nodded, taking in the information. It made more sense now that he was comparing it to a microscope. "You switch stations using the coarse screwer and make small adjustments with the fine motors, simple as that."

"What about the aerial? What should I do with them? The only thing I can figure out myself is how to adjust the sound volume."

"They usually don't need to be moved. Like right now, it's good so just let them stay as they are. You only move the aerial as your last resort if both screws doesn't get you the clearest sound." He explained, sticking to the keep it simple stupid rule.

"I think I get it… then again, I don't think you should be teaching me this when I just had half a bottle of wine."

"What better opportunity would we have? Anyways, your iPod seems to be awake, perhaps we should start battling?"

"You're on!"

…

"My girl is such a romantic at heart," he crooned. "Oh, that's it?"

"Not a romantic now, am I?" She laughed alongside him when he came to an abrupt stop at the end of the playlist that only consisted not even half a dozen songs.

"A wannabe romantic, more like."

"In your dreams, Grey."

"Fine! Then, make my dream come true tonight. We are choosing from this list." He announced, glaring at her challengingly.

"So, you're the romantic." She grinned back cheekily, accepting the challenge mostly under the influence and encouragement of alcohol. Liquid courage was legit.

"We'll just have to see what I'm choosing," he mirrored her expression glancing at her briefly. "Why don't you go first, my lady?"

"Oh, now's not the time for chivalry," she shook her head chuckling, her hands were now fidgeting with the radio, searching for another station that wasn't playing the damn Christmas carols; they weren't exactly fitting to the current atmosphere.

He chortled, scrolling down the playlist, considering song by song, and this was his umpteenth time going through the five songs in what was named the _love_ playlist.

"You aren't giving me a lot of choices here, you know? There are only five songs here and I only know two of them. And, they're both from the same artist."

"Well, in my equally limited experience with pop-songs," she gave him a pointed glare after he briefly laughed at her very country and what he would call lullaby-resembled song list, he had an idea of what type of music she would prefer. "Those are the only five songs that I know the lyrics of and liked. There's no reason to download other songs that I won't listen twice because I don't like the lyrics."

He hummed absently, picking up the earphone that was previously randomly discarded on the couch and plugged it in. He wanted to know if this was the version that he thought he knew, as well as listen to the rest.

He was too engrossed in the music that he failed to notice the moment when Anastasia's body went rigid. She had craned her neck to make sure that he was… preoccupied.

_"… a close friend of the family disclosed. Now, back to the main studio."_

Anastasia held her breath as she listened carefully to the rest of the report. The volume of the radio had been adjusted to the lowest level since early this evening, so he was completely unaware of the report. Despite having only caught the last sentence from the offsite reporter, she had a feeling that it was something of importance but was specifically chosen to be released on this day. She knew that if it was breaking news, it wouldn't have been reported on the night of Christmas Eve, but it was also something with significant value since it was reported at all.

There was only one event that she could think of that could possibly fall into this category.

_"There are too little information on this mysterious businessman to validate such statement, but our source emphasized and repeatedly claimed that they are particularly close to Christian Grey since he was just a young boy._

_Whether the allegation of Mr Grey being a disheartened and uncaring person in private is the case or not, we have reached out to the Public Relations team at Grey Enterprises Holdings and we have yet to receive a response. We do not wish to make a sound judgment or any comment based on one source until an official statement has been released."_

Anastasia didn't have to listen for any longer to know that Elena had taken the advantage of his silence. She could not determine whether Elena knew of his plan to celebrate Christmas in Baltimore with her or not, since he normally spend Christmas working if his parents were away. Perhaps she assumed the latter. Either way, he would always be informed of any news concerning him the moment they were out, since he'd always keep his phone near him.

And, this was exactly the reason why this piece of breaking news was broadcasted on this particular day—very little people would be listening to a news radio station, but he would. It would be a move of alarming nature; to caution him if he didn't cooperate.

She was jolted out of her silent musing when she felt him hovering over her with her earphones still plugged in his ears. He was obviously enjoying herself from the grin on his face, so she immediately wiped her troubled look off of her face and put on a convincing smile. Her fingers had altered the screwer the same moment she was jumped startled by him, and now the voice of the annoying news reporter was blurred. She took that chance to pretend that she was still searching for a station when all she wanted to do was find the Christmas carols and push the disturbing news aside for tonight.

"I think I've got the perfect song. It's very fitting. Truly," he grinned like a teenage boy eyeing his Christmas present for the first time.

"Then, maybe… you should go first?" She clasped her hands together in front of her and twisted her body from side to side coquettishly as she suggested.

"Ladies first. That's always the rule," he told her cheekily but she could see the determination in his eyes and just knew that he wouldn't back down.

"Fine!" She conceded, snatching the iPod from his grasp and plugged it back to the speaker. She stared at the playlist, her highlighter hovered over a song.

"I called dibs on that. You'll have to choose from the rest of the three. I want that two songs from Nick Jonas."

"So much for being chivalrous," she teased but was warmed by the possible implication behind his song choice. "Okay, this one," she giggled at her choice. "Don't peak. Go sit down on the couch and enjoy the show. I'm going to rock your world!" She winked with another giggle, this was most definitely the alcohol talking.

She ushered him onto the couch while she grabbed the empty wine bottle from the dining table to use as the microphone.

…

Anastasia threw her head back and tossed her long brown mane over her shoulder in the process. His performance had got her all hot and bothered. For some reason, it was a huge turn on to watch him dance to a song that talked about jealousy.

"You seductress," he exclaimed loudly after her initial performance.

"I was a dancer remember?" She licked her lips feeding into the compliment.

"Oh, I do. And, I remember exactly what I was feeling that night. I also remember the song that you danced to, even though you don't have it here." He winked and he cued up the song _Jealous_ by Nick Jonas.

There was little truth in what he had just said, and they both knew it, but he just wanted to cue himself on stage so there was a smooth transition.

"I need to film this," she jumped up from the couch the moment she heard the tune. "Can I film you?" She asked again for consent and he gave it to her, trusting her to keep this file to herself.

_I don't like the way he's looking at you  
I'm starting to think you want him too  
Am I crazy? Have I lost ya?  
Even though I know you love me, can't help it_

This song was the exact reflection of him and his inner monologue. It made Anastasia realize that he wasn't the only male with a ridiculous jealous streak and liked to behave like a man that was absolutely insecure about his relationship despite being told otherwise multiple times.

He puffed out his chest and drummed it with his fist that wasn't holding the empty wine bottle. The phone was shaking as Anastasia shook with laugher, she tried so hard to contain it so she could have a proper recording, but his over-exaggerated performance made it impossible for her not to giggle.

She had to twist her body side ways and lean back to capture his entire figure in the frame. And she soon gave up on staying on the couch, because by the end of the sone, he walked back to the couch and sat down as if he just slid in a booth at a bar where he was trying to start a conversation with a girl he had been eying the entire night. His arm was draped over the back of the couch. Anastasia wobbly moved off of the couch and squatted at an angle so that his parted legs could also be included. He patted his chest and sang.

_I turn my chin music up  
And I'm puffing my chest  
I'm turning red in the face  
You can call me obsessed  
It's not your fault that they hover  
I mean no disrespect  
It's my right to be hellish  
I still get jealous_

At one point, Anastasia really thought that he was actually singing the song, because the speaker was blasting in full volume and his lips were just so in sync with the lyrics, and his moves were so in tune with the music.

_'Cause you're too sexy beautiful  
And everybody wants a taste  
That's why I still get jealous_

He paused at the right spot to let the voice of the backup singers' voice echo, never missing a beat. She didn't know that her legs were growing sore and numb from squatting in her very uncomfortable position before the couch for so long, she was too engrossed in the performance to notice that she could actually just sit on the carpet that was only a few centimetres beneath her butt.

"This is definitely your song, Christian." She giggled, turning off the recording and tossing the phone away as she clambered back on the couch settling within his arms reach.

"Then, what's yours?" He flirted, scooting an inch closer to her as his fingers twirled with a strand of her hair.

"Is this you turning your _chin music _up?" She took another strand and played with it around her fingers equally flirtatiously.

"Is it working?"

She grinned mischievously. She grabbed the wine bottle from his lap and sauntered to the iPod dock swaying her hips as she went. She threw a glance back when she reached for the iPod, and she saw him licking his lips sensually while staring at her ass. His eyes travelled up and fell on to her bottom lip that was now stuck underneath her pale white teeth.

_I threw a wish in a well  
Don't ask me I'll never tell_

Tossing an imaginary paper next to her, she protruded her ass sending an air kiss and a wink at him. A devious yet enticing smile appeared on her face as she started her improv dance routine like a professional pop-star. Her hips swayed powerfully against the beat.

She smirked when she saw him adjusting his pants discretely. The spell she had casted on him still exist and she was excited when her effect on him was clearly visible. In her alcohol-induced state, a part of her was reminded of their sex life, and their mutual attraction. The wine in her really did a piss poor job at keeping her rising libido at bay. She now really missed their times spent in between the sheets until the early mornings. The more she thought about it the more horny she had become.

_Before you come into my life, I missed you so bad  
And you should know that  
I missed you so, so bad  
So, call me maybe_

Turning her back on him, she threw him one last wink and let her hair settle around her face, and some cascading down her shoulder and back. Her feet parted and her hand on her hip, the other one reaching for the iPod. She was prevented from stopping the music when he lunged forward and took the mic from her in one swift step as the prelude of the next song begun.

In her dancing daze earlier, she had not notice her phone propped up on a table so it could capture all the performance in the living room. It had probably already recorded more than half of hr dance since she hadn't always kept her eyes solely on him. His movements never registered with her brain.

The song choice again was weirdly fitting. She knew this song better than the last tone he did, but it was the first time that she realized they were from the same artist and portraying very similar situations one could easily find themselves in once they'd set their feelings free.

_With her wine-stained lips, yea, she's nothing but trouble  
Cold to the touch, but she's warm as a devil  
I gave her my heart but she wanted my soul  
She takes 'til I break and I can't get more_

He stepped closer to her, momentarily forgetting that he was only lip syncing. Fortunately, she was also very caught up in the moment that she hadn't notice the comical moment when their forehead touched, the wine bottle being the only obstacle stopping their lips from touching. His facial expression matched the emotion conveyed by the words from the lyrics. A smile slowly etched her face as she enjoyed the close proximity companied with the lyrics that coincidentally suited their circumstance and their overall environment.

_You got me in chains  
You got me in chains for your love  
But I wouldn't change  
No, I wouldn't change this love_

He grabbed her hand and led her to the middle of the living room, twirling her around and letting go of her hand to let her freestyle as he used the same hand to clutch the shirt around his heart. He repeated the same moves as the chorus repeated. She was surprised at how in sync their moves were, it was as if they were previously rehearsed. And, her attempted ballet gesticulation didn't fail as much as she thought it would. Twirling back to him as if she was enwrapped in chains, she found herself being dipped backward and draped over his strong arm.

…

In the dining room, a bored puppy neglected by his owners hopped onto the dining table, and out of the couple's sight, he started to lick the plates. Starting with the steak remain. He had been eyeing it for the longest time. His tail wagging wildly, reflecting the jubilance buzzing in the air of that small apartment complex…

* * *

**Songs mentioned in order (I do not own them nor the lyrics):**

**_Jealous_ — Nick Jonas**

**_Call Me Maybe_ — Carly Rae Jepsen**

**_Chains_ — Nick Jonas**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	14. Drifting Away

_**Drifting Away**_

NEW YEAR'S EVE 2013

Anastasia woke to the sound of someone screaming down the phone followed by a crash which more than likely was the result of said phone making contact with the floor.

Christian was in a foul mood and he shouldn't be, given that she just told him that she got the last minute message that she wasn't needed in the hospital today and they were prepared to sleep in.

"Is everything okay?" She donned a robe around her body tightly even though the heater was blazing hot air. It was as if it could shield her from whatever tragic news he was going to deliver.

When she made it out into the living room, he was sitting on the couch with his elbows on his knees and his head in his palms. His shoulders rose and fell like he was taking deep breaths. Her voice didn't startle him but it also didn't trigger any response. She trudged forward hesitantly unsure of what to do.

"Christian?" She whispered again when she got nearer but didn't dare to move any closer.

Reflecting on their interactions in the past seven days, other than the disturbing news she had heard on the night of Christmas Eve, there was nothing negative; everything was simply blissful.

Watching the current state that he was in, she still refused to think of the worst; leaving it to Christian to do the job. It was rather heart-wrenching to see him in such a state. She kept her distance and observed his stiff posture. In her mind, she was trying to convince herself that it was simply a call from his Head of PR to inform him of their appearance in the news or on social media once again, because they had attended a charity gala hosted by a British couple to honor the tradition of donation on Boxing Day. Christian and Anastasia wouldn't normally celebrate this day but they both thought the donation aspect was respectable; besides, attending the function was a way to establish and maintain good connection.

Though, in hindsight, something was off that day. Even though people were still very amiable and sociable but Anastasia had noticed the way people looked at them had changed. She thought she was just seeing and imagining things, and that they were just a little stunned that Christian would make an appearance, or that they were still 'together'. Everyone was still cordial, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Still, it didn't escape her that people were constantly whispering around the and occasionally glancing in their direction.

As much as she didn't want to, once she'd put two and two together, there was no denying that the news he was struck with had nothing to do with their social event but with the news she had heard the other night. It was no wonder that people were talking. Yet again, the pretentious behaviour from the other socialists on that afternoon after Christmas was proof that money could buy one power, status and superficial respect. If he wasn't making a donation so generous, she was sure that they'd be kicked to the curb upon first entry to the venue.

"It was my Head of PR," his voice jolted her eyes back to focus. He was still in the same position. She was tempted to approach him but she refrained once again; he was just too unpredictable right now.

"I figured."

His head snapped up at that unexpected confession.

"Was it about the ball?" She still questioned with a hopeful gleam even though she knew better.

"No," he shook his head and lowered it back into his palms, "I wish it was though."

"I'm sorry," she didn't know what would be considered appropriate to say.

"They told me that there are some news about me that was released on Christmas Eve, since no one really watches the news on that day, they weren't informed about it until today when it started to circulate. That was a week ago, and people had _just_ caught wind of it. _I'm_ only just hearing about it!"

"I- I know about it, Christian. I heard it on the radio the other day," her vague confession only fed into his belief that he and his team were the last people in the world to be informed about the report and people might've been deliberately trying to conceal it from them.

"Why didn't you tell me?" In that moment, he felt betrayed, by the one person that he had trusted the most. Her eyes stung with unshed tears as she registered his tone and his feelings. Her knowledge had made him seem even more powerless. He had thought at least it would've been the first time she'd heard about it, too, and he wasn't the only person uninformed. "I need to return to Seattle," he decided, shutting off and becoming detached.

"You looked so radiant and happy that night, and I just didn't want to ruin the atmosphere."

"Do you know that Elena is the source? I've told you that she's up to something. Why didn't I realize that this is what she would've done?"

"It doesn't need to take a genius to figure out that said source is Elena, even though it's allegedly anonymous and unverifiable."

"Yes, which is why I _have_ to go back," he hissed through his teeth, stressing the word this time more viciously.

"Is it because I didn't tell you about it when I heard it?"

"No," although that did sting but he understood where she was coming from and it didn't make him trust her any less. He had forgiven her on that part pretty quickly because that really wasn't the focus. "Ana, you can't be seen with me anymore."

"Why?"

"The less you are associated with me, the safer you are."

"What? What do you mean?" He stood up and started to gather his belongings and packing his bag. She spluttered in sheer disbelieve. She was still frozen on the spot, rooted with her question hanging in the air even after he had finished packing and was heading to the door, "It's New Year's Eve," she whispered to herself, noting how shitty the timing had been.

"You need to protect your reputation. You are an aspiring doctor in your medical field, you need to stay away from me so that my dark past doesn't haunt you and your career. No matter how the media has portrayed my character, heartless or cold, I won't drag you through my mess. I would never forgive myself I am the reason why you didn't achieve the success that you deserve."

"You won't ruin anything," she insisted. "You can defend yourself—release a statement… anything, don't just give up!"

"I'm not giving up. For your sake, I will fight. But, I need to keep you safe. When it comes to Elena, I know this is going to be nasty. This is just the start."

"Just promise me something." She lowered her voice dejectedly knowing it would be useless for her to fight him on it any longer. If his mind was set on something, she knew that he would do it no matter what she said.

"I don't know if I am capable of keeping it."

"Just this one thing," she beseeched and he relented. "Promise me that you will stay strong and believe that not everyone is against you and there are loyal people in your corner willing to fight for you."

He sighed, he wanted to give her his word but he was afraid that he might not be able to stick to it. He so desperately wanted to assure her that he'd do anything for her but he didn't want to lie. He was fearful, too; more than she could ever imagine and this was just the beginning. He knew the worst was yet to come and this would quickly turn into a war of attrition.

"You just have to hold on, Christian. You can't let anyone break your resolve. Please, for me?" He knew she could read him like an open book and from the few encounters she had had with Elena, he could only guess that she was having the same thought as him.

"I have to go, Ana." He nodded at her, not even verbally vowing to her. That worried her because it meant that he wasn't confident in his situation that he would come out as the winner.

With tears shimmering in her eyes, she dragged her legs over to him by the door. His hand rested atop the door handle but didn't press down. He appeared apprehensive, and she thought perhaps she could use this chance to change his mind, but he beat it to her.

"I haven't been completely honest with you."

"You're not telling me something?" Just as he expected, she immediately picked up that he had lied by omission.

"I told you that I haven't really thought about the entire situation, never looked at a picture but only read words."

"You've seen the pictures?" She whispered.

"And the videos, the interviews. I checked over everything just to make sure."

"Make sure?"

"Make sure that he was that very same person who left those scars on me." He waved around his chest indicating the cigarette burns. "His face was a face that I would never forget, no matter how long it had been and how young I had been. He was my birth mother's pimp, and whether or not he's my biological father, there is no way that I will be meeting him in anyway shape or form."

"Your nightmares are getting worse," she deduced in a soft whisper. Her eyes now focused on the dark circles under his eyes. "You haven't had a good night's sleep since Halloween didn't you?"

His lips formed a thin, tight line and she knew he was going to shut down on her.

"Did you sleep well with me these days?" She inquired, taking a step closer willing him to meet her pleading gaze. Her own lips quivered and her words trembled, she was trying so hard to fight back tears that were already slowly pouring out of her eyes. "Christian, answer me. Please."

"Yes. I did," he nodded. He squeezed his eyes tightly as if he could squeeze out the mental image he now had of her tear stricken face, and her look; it was a look that tugged his heartstrings and wounded the very core of him. He already knew what she was going to say next, and he needed to stay strong and do what was the best for her and her future. She was the one person that he never wished to disappoint, and he'd rather lose everything than see her lose what she had tried so hard to accomplish.

"Then…" she was interrupted by his palms cupping her cheeks and his thumbs wiping dry her tears.

"Please, don't finish that sentence. I beg you, Anastasia. It is hard enough for me to leave this place every time I visit, and now that this is probably the last time I will ever see you… don't make it any harder."

She closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of his hands. It was a feeling that she wished she could bottle up and revisit it everyday.

"I understand," she nodded. Opening her eyes and fresh tears rushed out of her eye sockets involuntarily, but she refused to avert her gaze from his. She needed to imprint every detail of his features into her brain as she willed herself to accept that this might be their last meeting.

"I love you," he leaned down and pecked her lips.

When she reopened her eyes, she was faced with a closed door and a room void of his presence. It was as if she had imagined that whole thing. He left in a whim, and the lingering cologne in the air was the only indication that she wasn't hallucinating.

"I love you, too." She slid down against the door and brought her fingers to her lips as if to savor the sensation of when their lips met; even if for just that brief second. "You really should've stayed with me," she finished her earlier thought and let another lone tear slid down her face now that she was completely alone. "You could've been in a much better mood if you had a good night's sleep. I know that from experience, and you have the best nights when you're with me." She whispered, her sobs and cries only grew louder as she pictured the situation he was in.

Beside her, Taco strutted to the door and scratched it a few times; it was a futile attempt to make it open itself. He whimpered and crawled toward Anastasia, the other owner that he had grown to accept and love. He remembered her smell and knew that she was the one that approached him the first time they met, and also the one who had fed her milk. She was familiar to him.

Taco nudged her elbow with his cool, moist nose waiting for her to lift her arm so he could climb into her lap. He wanted to seek comfort from her because he missed the man that had just left, too.

…

Life had to go on. Though, Anastasia didn't worry about him any less than she normally would ever since she heard about the shit that the pimp had stirred up in the news.

She had picked up and put down her phone too many times to count. All she wanted to do was to check on him but she didn't want to go against his wish to server all contact. He was already in a stressful position and the last thing she wanted to do was to add on his pressure by giving him a hard time.

After he had left, she took Taco out for a really long walk, hoping to clear her mind. She didn't want to think, particularly. All she wanted to do was to get her mind off of the heavy stuff and convince herself that she had to pick herself up because this wouldn't be the last of their meeting.

She would make sure of it; before she leave for her research assignment in Scandinavia.

If that was some sort of goodbye from him, then he did a piss poor job at expressing his sentiments.

The streets were empty and everywhere she went seemed to be filled with joyous people and music. She had contemplated on joining some of those open parties, but a tug on the leash reminded her that she still had company, in spite of the loss of another.

It was New Year's Eve, she really didn't have anyone to turn to. The best was to enjoy the holiday with her current buddy. They were going to be spending a lot of time together anyway, so they better get acquainted and get cozy together. True to his words, this puppy that she had in a leash—accompanying her down the lonesome streets in the city of Baltimore—was a constant reminder of the him. It reminded her of the good times they had together, especially when they first met this little fellow.

She spent her New Year's day in the lab and worked nonstop ever since. She had volunteered to switch shifts with other doctors in her department and even worked in the ER so some other doctors could have an extended holiday with their families. Perhaps, the idea of shifts were for lonely, pathetic individuals like her.

No one in the hospital had eyed her differently for her association with Christian, in spite of her rather public appearance on the day after Christmas and combined with the news surrounding him, she was grateful to have a healthy working environment.

Or perhaps, everyone was just too tired each day to even be bothered about their colleagues' personal lives. She knew that in the out-patient department and other departments there were more rumors circulating, but that was because they were bored with nothing to do.

...

FEBRUARY 2013

"Ana," her department head turned to her in a debrief meeting at the end of the week in late February. She was just musing about the things that she had heard from her colleagues and nurses about how they spent their Valentine's Day when she couldn't even call Christian to check in.

"Yes," she lifted her head giving him her full attention.

"You are going on the trip to Denmark, correct?"

"Yes."

"With Denny?"

"No, he's declined the offer but I've met a few from the West Coast." It was no secret that she was from Washington State and that she had quite a few crucial and envious connections in Seattle.

"Any from the East Coast?"

She knew why her director asked. Every profession was competitive within, some more subtler than the others. In her case, everyone in the department knew that their director was trying to bring in a doctor from New York or DC, from one of those more famous hospitals. He had his eyes set on one but he knew that this hospital wasn't ranked high enough.

"The neurologist is going, and there's only one other anesthesiologist," she listed.

"Do we know them?" Anastasia nodded. "It's her isn't it?" Their director rubbed his hands together and hissed in excitement. She nodded again to confirm. "Great! You need to get to know her better."

"I'm not going to try to convince her to give up her job for us, just keep that in mind, yeah?" She joked, and everyone around the table laughed at their director's tendency to go overboard when he wanted something done.

"That's not in your job description, I get it." He waved it off dismissively but everyone else around the table was still suspicious just like Anastasia.

"Yeah, right." Someone muttered lowly.

"Anyway," Anastasia proceeded before anyone else could make another comment. "I think a physiotherapist from LA has been selected. There's a couple of neurologists, I recall."

A couple of days ago, she went to a conference where everyone chosen to become part of the research team had met up and got to know each other. She was surprised that she actually knew several participants. She was glad to see that her efforts in forming connections these couple of years didn't go to waste.

"It's a very diverse team," she summarized. "There is also a psychologist and a psychiatrist I think."

"Two from mental health?"

"Only two?"

"No!" When her colleagues started to question the formation of the team, she adjusted her stance and really started to think everyone that had been introduced in that conference.

Anastasia rattled off as much information as she could remember and dish without getting into trouble, and it was then her colleagues seemed satisfied at her response.

"Good luck on the trip, Ana! You'll be writing lots of reports," the director patted her on the back and squeezed her shoulder after he dismissed the team and announced that she was given a week off in advance to prepare for her departure.

The first thought that flashed through her mind when she heard that she was given an entire week to prepare was to fly to Seattle.

There was something that she needed to settle before she leave.

She needed closure; at least that was what she convinced herself.

…

MARCH 2014

Anastasia summoned the jet only as a test to see if he had really shut her out of his life completely, but when the pilot gave her an affirmative answer that a flight plan had been approved, she knew he only made an impulsive decision.

As usual, she slept all the way back to Seattle. The attendant on the plane had already gotten used to her charging for the bedroom the moment the seatbelt sign went off. So, she normally wouldn't offer refreshments for this passenger unless she requested it.

"Dr Steele," the door opened a creak and the flight attendant peaked her head in after knocking repeatedly on the door. Anastasia would never lock the door on the jet fearing inconvenience if an emergency happened, though it would be an entirely different story if she was here with Christian.

When Anastasia didn't budge, the flight attendant shook rounded the bed and shook her gently urging her to wake up.

"Yes?" Remembering that she was alone with a bunch of people who were practically strangers to her, she lay on her back and opened her eyes instead of snapping at whoever that had woken her up. She would've been easier to rouse if it weren't for the noise of the engine since she was sleeping pretty lightly.

"Mr Taylor is on the phone, requesting to talk to you."

"Taylor?" Anastasia squinted at the blonde woman standing at the foot of her bed taking advantage of the light stream shining through the crack of the door. "Christian's bodyguard?"

"Yes," the steward confirmed.

"Why would he want to talk to me?" She muttered as she got out of bed. She picked up her phone from the edge of the bed and checked for any missed calls only to notice that airplane mode was on.

The lady led her to the cockpit and handed her a phone. It was the first time that she had entered a cockpit of any plane, and she wished she had the chance to explore a little but the circumstances wouldn't allow it.

"Hello?" She took the phone and spoke.

"Dr Steele," the stoic steely voice coming from the other end was undoubtedly Taylor's and this worried her.

"Did something happen?" There was no other reason for Taylor to make a call while she was still in the air.

Her fingers twirled with the telephone wire as she waited for his response.

"There has been an accident."

"An accident?" She echoed like a parrot and she didn't know if it was her current state that was making it hard for her to register the information or had she always sounded this stupid over the phone.

"Mr Grey was in a minor car accident. He gave me a day off because my daughter was sent to the ER. Sawyer and him were en route to GEH."

"Is he hurt?"

"He has a long gash on his arm but nothing serious. Sawyer took most of the hit. They are now in the same ambulance heading to the hospital."

"Okay, I'll head straight to the hospital then."

"I will be picking you up, I am on my way to the tarmac," she could hear that there was more in his words but she didn't question. She thought there must be a reason why he wasn't giving too much details.

"Okay, sure, thank you, Taylor."

"Goodbye, Dr Steele."

She mumbled something polite in return and handed the phone back to the steward who hung it back up on the wall.

_An accident…_

That just kept ringing in her mind. Her first thought was that this wasn't an accident, this was a planned attack from Elena. Then again, there was no reason for her to do so. She didn't know Elena's motives behind that news release either. Was it money? Or was it because he refused to invest in her stupid salons?

She hugged herself tighter as she shuffled back to the couch, throwing her legs over the length of the furniture as she stared out of the window. She left around noon so it would make it just around the time he goes to work each day since Baltimore was three hours ahead of Seattle.

Now the anticipation was eating her and making her anxious. She was told that Christian was fine, but Sawyer wasn't. It made her feel even worse that she hadn't expressed any concern over the security member. She hadn't been close to any of Christian's staff other than, maybe, Gail. Even Taylor was stretching it, though she did have his number.

She had never argued on the issue with security once her relationship with Christian was unveiled to the public, and Sawyer had been assigned to her since day one. She just made sure that she stuck to the protocols and avoided getting into troubles, she never made an effort to get to know any of his staff personally. They work together, that was all. After all, she thought security came naturally with someone rising to fame so rapidly.

…

"I never asked, but is Sawyer okay?" Anastasia jumped straight to the point after stepping off of a five-hour flight without even giving Taylor a proper greeting.

"He's in the ICU and his sister was notified."

"Oh, good," she breathed easing her guilt a little. "He's going to be fine, right?"

"We're optimistic," was all Taylor could provide and as a doctor, Anastasia knew that wasn't the best sign. It was a doctor's of easing the stress on the patient's family while also intertwining a trace of honesty.

"Oh, god…" she said to herself once she heard the answer. "I hope he's only there for the drug to wear off," she said once both of them settled into the SUV. Anastasia had no luggage with her since she was only stopping shortly, probably overnight or two nights at most before flying back.

"I don't have any more information regarding his condition since I am not his employer on paper," Anastasia frowned. "He met and signed with Mr Grey directly."

"Of course... he was assigned to me, Christian _had_ to vet him himself."

Taylor nodded, his eyes softened. They were an adorable couple in his eyes.

"Is this Elena's doing?" Jumping straight to the point again interrupting Taylor when he was going to ask about her plans.

"That's what we are looking into, but right now, nothing suggests that this accident is planned."

"So, everything is pointing to an ordinary car accident?"

"It seems so at this stage. We've identified the driver and there's no connection with Elena in any way. Not even subtly or indirectly."

"I thought there's a lead or something."

"I wish," he sighed.

Taylor usually wouldn't make a conversation with anyone when he was on duty but he could sense the anxiety oozing out of her pores, so he decided to engage her in a few exchange to keep her talking so her emotions weren't all bunched up inside.

"Why did you call me on the plane, though?"

"I was going to send a rental car over for you," he explained, "but this incident has put me on high alert. I didn't think it'd be safe for you to go in a rental car, and so I thought it's best if I come and pick you up myself."

"Thank you, but what could've happened to me?" Normally it would've been Sawyer that came to pick her up from the tarmac and if he was also unavailable, there would still be a car waiting for her.

"I just don't want to take any unnecessary risk. A rental car is unsafe to some extent."

She nodded in understanding. "Better to eliminate all risks now," she sighed thinking about Christian. "Have you seen him? Christian, I mean."

"No," he shook his head once.

"Okay… but you said he's not seriously hurt?"

"A buddy of mine from the police called me to brief me on the situation."

"Didn't Christian call you?"

"No, his phone was apparently smashed against the window and flew out on impact. At least that was what I was told."

Anastasia bit her lip tightly. From what she was hearing, this didn't sound like a minor accident.

"There was a car coming from the opposite direction, speeding down the road and strayed from the line. Sawyer tried to move out of the way but the other lanes were occupied."

She winced and coward at the mental image that was playing through her mind. She was now convinced that this was just a fatal accident that wasn't staged by anyone. She remained silent the rest of the way listening to Taylor dish out as much details as he knew as he picked up one phone call after another.

Apparently, there had been no evidence that the other driver was under any kind of influence but the car had had a history of defective breaks which wasn't completely resolved. At least that was what was logged into the system the last time it was brought to the mechanic.

…

"Is this how you're going to welcome me back to Seattle every time?" She walked into the ER with Taylor in tow. Christian was resting in a lounge chair with his injured hand propped up on an examination table. He didn't look like he was in an accident he simply looked like he got cut if no one looked at the bruise on the side of his face and the slight bump on his forehead.

"I thought I told you. We can't be seen together," his eyes darted around the room and lowered his voice considerably. The nurse had just walked out seconds before they stepped foot into the room. There was no one else in the room but the trio and Taylor made it a point to close the door and stand near it.

"Yeah, but there's no way I'd be leaving the country for an entire year without saying goodbye." She rolled her eyes for the added effect despite knowing it would tick him off and irritate him. "I need closure, as they say it in those romantic movies," she jested, taking a seat on the ottoman before him. _He must've requested a VIP room_, she mused.

"You're not here for me." He averted her heated gaze.

"Keep trying to convince yourself of that."

"You don't understand, Anastasia." He threw his good arm up exasperatedly.

"I don't need to. I'm leaving anyway," she shrugged. "Either way, if we're seen together, it'd be the last time this year at least."

He was already too numbed to feel the pain in her words. He had been trying to convince herself to forget about her and forget about the look on her face the last time he left her.

They stayed in silence. He had nothing to say to her that wouldn't stir up old memories that he was trying to store away, and she didn't know anything appropriate to say in a public setting.

All communication ceased until the door opened again with the nurse holding a syringe and a tray of other utensils.

"No!" His pulse started to quicken and his eyes were widen in fear when he saw the nurse adjusting the liquid in the syringe and flicking the needle before uncapping it.

Anastasia's shoulders shook with silent laughter and her hand was pressing against her mouth.

"Stop laughing at my expense, Anastasia!"

This was apparently enough to trigger her to laugh out loud. He kept jerking his arms back and refusing to give it to the nurse who was getting impatient.

"Can you tell her, Ana?" He demanded but at the same time shying from having to explain his needle-phobia to the nurse who was growing impatient and not a least bit amused.

"Christian, you need to get the tetanus vaccine. If you wanted to avoid needles you shouldn't have cut yourself this deep in the first place. What have you been cut with anyway that would result you being harmed like this?"

"Don't say that word!"

"The shot is necessary, Christian. It'll be over before you know it. Will it help if I hold your hand or cover your eyes for you?"

"Can you take over?"

"Christian, I am a doctor."

She stood up from the ottoman that she had been sitting on and put both of her hands on the arm rest of his chair as she bent down to his eye level.

"You're a medical person, surely cleaning a wound isn't some rocket science for you. I'm not some tricky case anyway, it's just a simple wound. You inject things in people on a daily basis."

"Christian, I am a doctor, and my training to clean wounds this large and deep are long out of practice. First aid skills are the only one that I review frequently. I am sure the nurse can do a better job than me because they have more practice."

He was still refusing to offer the wounded arm. The nurse placed the needle back into the kidney-shaped plate and put her hands on her hips as she pursed her lips.

"Christian, please? It's not even going to last a few seconds. I promise. I'll count for you." She gently took his arm and placed it on to the table for the nurse who shot Anastasia grateful look even though it wasn't received. "Trust her that she's going to do it much more swiftly that I will. She's the professional here not me."

When the nurse finally pinned down his shaky arm and injected the needle, Anastasia asked.

"Does it hurt?"

"No," he shook his head but his eyes were squeezed shut and she could feel his heart beat spiking and his palm sweating. Her hand was already slipping out of his grasp with the amount of sweat he was producing and it only made him clutch onto it tighter. Her other hand was wrapped around his head to pretentiously cover his eyes for him but more to cuddle him so that his head could lean against her chest, listening to her steady heartbeat may help.

The needle was pulled out slightly and then pushed back in a different angle, and more vaccine was injected. Anastasia watched as the medicine decrease in the syringe tube as it got pushed out more and more.

"Three, two, one. Done!" She whispered in his ear and tenderly kissed his temple. "You've done so well, baby." She crooned in his ear, smoothing his chest with the hand that was previously over his eyes. "I'm proud of you." She shared a smile with the nurse once she finished up wrapping the wound and left the room. Anastasia sent her an appreciative nod and she closed the door behind her.

…

Grace rushed to the emergency room as soon as she could after she treated the current patient. When she arrived she was so scared that her son would throw a fit or have some kind of panic attack when he saw the needle, but what she had witnessed silently warmed her heart.

Taylor had instructed her to remain silent and the pediatrician knew better than to utter a sound as they both observed the couple from the door with a pensive smile.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	15. Fizzling Out

_**Fizzling Out**_

JULY 2014

Christian sat in the Mile High Club nursing a drink made by himself. He was still trying to mimic the taste of the one Anastasia surprised him with that night. It was ironic how she just casually mixed something for him two years ago and he was still hung up on it when she had long forget what she made him. Now, he was here alone, on a day that meant something special to them because he had pushed her away.

She did insist on coming back but he declined profusely after learning that she'd be missing out on too much.

Two years ago today, he took her on their first unofficial date on the Fourth of July for the Mariners' game. A year ago today, under the fireworks of the Fourth of July in his attic at his parents' house, they made a pact.

And now, two years later, he was alone on their anniversary.

The only difference though was this club was now his. It took him an entire year's tireless negotiation with the owner to finally get him to agree to sell at a decent price. He now got rid of the entertainment, which also reminded him of a certain blue-eyed brunette.

"What are you doing here sulking all by yourself?" Ros approached him, her wife following closely behind, both with a cocktail in their hand. "We should be celebrating! This became your club officially yesterday! And, is that a Gibson? Since when do you drink cocktails?"

"It's not a Gibson," he sipped it and remarked offhandedly. "It's the drink Ana made me when we first met." He tipped it clean and placed it back onto the counter, purposefully leaving out the details of their very first encounter.

"You told me that you should steer clear of her so she doesn't get caught up in your whatever bullshit—which by the way, you still have neglected to tell me—then you talk about her left and right. Everything reminds you of her. Just get a grip and choose what you want!"

"It's not about what I want, it's about what I can't have. We aren't dating anymore since a year ago, only putting up a front for the press. Now, she's all the way in Europe and she's not even coming back for our anniversary." That last part came from the petulant part of him since he was the one that told her not to come back.

Christian was aware of how pathetic he sounded at the moment, but cut him some slack, that was his first real relationship. A serious one, too!

"You guys broke up, so what anniversary?" Ros slid onto the bar stool next to him and stared at him incredulously like he was crazy.

"You don't understand!"

"So, explain! Make me understand. We've got all night, and your parents aren't expecting you home anytime soon."

He had snuck out during the fireworks show and headed to the club where Ros was hosting a Fourth of July slash new acquisition celebration. The club was also meaningful to him, which made him even more sad about today.

He only left a very detached and simple note on his night stand saying that he'd be back late before heading off with Taylor.

"What makes you think I will tell you anything about my relationship with Ana?" Christian challenged, grabbing a bottle of water from the shelf behind the bar counter and gulping it down. He had given up on trying to drink his poor excuse of a blend.

"Fine, don't tell me then. So, what's she up to now?"

"Why do you insist on talking about her when you have your wife with you?"

"I like wasting my time on you."

He rolled his eyes dramatically.

"So, what do you know?"

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"I don't know why you are avoiding her or hiding from her…"

"I'm not! Do you remember that uproar earlier this year? The scandal that only just died down three months ago?"

"The one about your birth father?"

"Yes, and people are trying to paint a negative image of us; of me. I can't possibly drag her down with me by potentially ruining her career. I won't jeopardize what she had worked so hard for."

"Which is why you should've made more public appearances with her. The way you two looked at each other is going to make Aphrodite jealous. The way you are with her when you thought no one was watching was the perfect proof to anyone who has eyes that you are not the person the media is painting you as!"

"it's too late now, is it?"

"No! Have you seen how positive the impact had been on your public profile since you two hit the red carpet last month in DC?"

Christian shook his head, he had been avoiding any news about him like a plague.

They hadn't been talking since she left Seattle and it wasn't for the lack of trying on her part, but he just didn't know what to say anymore. He didn't follow through on his ridiculous idea to server all contact with her, but he hadn't been forthcoming in replying her texts either. When she first landed in Copenhagen in March, she texted him her new local number, and as usual, her apartment address and her typical schedule.

However, he didn't respond.

For the longest time, he had believed that she was pissed by his lack of reaction to everything she had sent—because she replied to everything she had sent but he sometimes would just disappear mid0conversation. So, when he got the mail that had announced that he had just received an award as the most influential individual under thirty, as well as another People's to Watch nomination. He was required to attend this ceremony.

So, he needed a date.

The date needed to be someone he could be seen in public with, and there was no other choice better than Anastasia.

When he texted her, he thought she might've already blocked his number because she hadn't said anything since he blew her off the last time they chatted over text.

Which was in April.

He received the envelope in May.

The ceremony is in June.

She flew back just missing his birthday, which did upset him a little. Still, he savored the time they could spend together. And, that was the first time they saw one another since March.

That public appearance had apparently hit the news everywhere. They were analyzing every tiny details of the interactions between the couple and all everyone could conclude was that Grey wasn't at all a bastard.

Anastasia flew back the day after the gala saying that she couldn't afford to miss out on a lot, so she had to rush back. Despite being in a hurry and also a little distant throughout the entire meeting, she still asked him how his birthday went and how he would be attending the Coping Together ball. He told her that he probably would make a short appearance to show respect to her mother, and he thanked her for the birthday gift she had shipped all the way from Denmark. It was a box of Danish chocolate. Other than that, he didn't disclose any other information about his birthday simply because he thought nothing entertaining happened.

Before she left, she told him she would try to fly back for the Fourth of July but he told her he could understand her other obligations were her priority. In the end, she gave in and told her that she'd be sending him something on the phone on that day.

"At least she remembered," he mumbled softly. The loud music and his surrounding now finally sinking in.

"Are you okay?" Ros waved her hand before his glazed eyes, causing him to blink uncomfortably. "You zoned out completely."

"I'm good," he gave her a weak smile and took another sip of his water.

Instead of commenting like she normally would and call him out on his bullshit, Ros took in his dismissive stance and left his side to enjoy the remainder of the night.

He did know what she was up to though. She had told him on one occasion that she would talk with Kate over the phone or video chat every weekend, and she even offered to FaceTime or Skype with him.

But, he turned her down.

This was the part where his very conflicted thoughts invaded his very conscious decision making process. On the one hand, he wanted to maintain contact with her and just follow his heart. On the other hand, even with the almost scandal dying down, he knew that Elena wasn't done, so until he could figure out what she was going to do, he didn't want to have more ties with Anastasia in case she got hurt.

The notion of eliminating contact with her under the guise of protecting her was ridiculous, and more than one person had told him that. However, he didn't think there was another way with Elena hovering over their heads; especially, his.

So, with the help from his therapist, he came to the conclusion that he simply had to confront Elena in person. Perhaps, even play into her hand a little in order to defeat her.

_Keep your friend close and your enemy closer._

…

Anastasia stepped out of the apartment and embraced the warm heat. She took out her phone and habitually glanced at the time like she normally would when she stepped out on to the streets.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed, stopping in her track abruptly when she realized that it was nearly eight in the morning, which means that it was almost eleven on the previous night in Seattle.

She would have to catch the tail of the Fourth of July.

Fumbling with her phone, she decided it would be worth it if she was late to this lecture, since she wasn't delivering any report and it was with the university students.

"Shit, shit, shit…" she chanted under her breath. She was going to request a FaceTime with him yesterday during the day when Seattle was still in the morning so she could wish him a happy anniversary and congratulate him on acquiring the Mile High Club.

Ros told her that.

She had missed his birthday even though she brought him a belated birthday gift along with shipping a box of chocolate, she wasn't going to let guilt eat her up by appearing to be ignorant of their anniversary, even if she couldn't be there in person. Furthermore, she also remembered promising him that she'd call him or send him a text or anything just to show him that she did care.

She really was going to do it yesterday, but then, her team found an error on their experiment report a few hours before the submission deadline. So, they all but rushed back into the lab to correct the report and she was exhausted when it was all done. Letting Taco out had been the last thing she remembered before waking up from a deep sleep this morning.

_"Grey, please leave a message."_

She sighed when she reached his voicemail. Of course, he must have been really busy and was drained from his day. Determined to get the message across, she stayed on the line and waited for the beep before she started speaking.

"Hey Christian, I'm sorry to call you so late at night, I hope you had a good time celebrating your new club. I am terribly sorry that I cannot make it back for our… anniversary, and we didn't really do any celebration here for the Fourth of July either. I think it has probably slipped our mind."

She chuckled nervously, she had been thinking of a better term to describe the nature of their relationship but she came up blank and the word anniversary didn't sound all that strange in her mouth.

"I will have a ten day break for Christmas and New Year, where will you be?" She wanted to suggest that they spend it together but didn't want to sound too forward. "Anyway, I hope you're doing really well. Call me or text me so we can schedule a time for video chat? I really miss hearing your voice and looking at your face." She knew she now sounded too hopeful for her own good but she couldn't hid it even if she tried. "I really hope to hear from you. Happy anniversary and congratulations! Love you." She blew him a kiss like she normally would and hung up the phone.

"Missed your anniversary?" A voice from her back halted her from stalling on the voice message.

"Huh? What?" Anastasia whipped her head back and greeted her neighbor with a smile. He had been the first friend she had made in this foreign country, and he was kind enough to offer her free lessons of basic Danish to help her get through the year.

It wasn't lost on her that he was young and single, and a medical student of the professor and mentor that she was going to work with in close proximity. Naturally, he had the beauty of any typical Scandinavian male possessed, and she wasn't utterly immune to the charms of a Northern European just like any other female. Only, she knew his infatuation ran deeper than hers.

"I'm sorry for interrupting," he apologized as he made his way closer to her. "Just a friendly reminder though," he grinned charismatically, "you're going to be late."

"So are you," she countered, finally regaining her composure and steadied her pulse.

"So, what should we do?"

"We… run?" She lifted an eyebrow, but when he took off she realized that he obviously didn't share her sense of humor. She sighed, shaking her head and went after him.

…

Christian jumped when he heard the ringing of his phone the moment he stepped out of the club. Whoever it was had impeccable timing, because there was no way he could have possibly noticed someone calling when he was still in there. His brain slowly registered the unique ringing tone just as he reached in to pull it out of his pants pocket.

It was Anastasia.

He stared at the screen and debated on answering it, but in his current state of mind, he knew he would only have nasty comments to make. So, after staring at it for a good two rings, he silenced it and let it went to voicemail. He would listen to it when he was in a better mood.

Or so he thought he would.

The moment the phone chirped with an incoming voicemail, he took it out and opened it.

Her voice. It was the only thing he could focus on.

It wasn't until the third time that he listened could he register the words she was speaking. He relished the last two words and the loud kiss, as well as the obvious joy contained behind her words of regret. She was happy for him and also having a good life and seemingly happy. AS much as he wanted to see her on camera, he didn't want her to see him; especially in his current state. He knew she would ask about him the second she saw his fatigue features.

He would've replied right away, but knowing that she couldn't reply instantly kind of discouraged him. He hated leaving messages to her because that would only leave him under constant stress while he waited for her to reply.

When his therapist asked him if he had a plan of any kind, he said no, because he had no goal.

The next time, he was asked if he now had a goal. He contemplated. And, he dished out the one he told Anastasia the last Fourth of July. He thought this goal was isolated from the rest of the mess that he felt like he was currently stuck in.

But, it wasn't.

The mess; this current fucked-up situation with his past that he had found himself in was the work of one person, with the help of another to kick-start the process—Elena Lincoln and the pimp.

That much was fact, and it was confirmed by retrieving the phone logs and message content on both of their phone. The secrecy of the whole conspiracy was covered up poorly.

They used a burner phone to send messages but it was always received on their personal device. The poor security measure had made it look like it was as if they had anticipated a hack from Christian's team.

Elena was clever. That much was unfortunately undeniable, or else she wouldn't have gotten her husband to marry her in the first place. She was a master manipulator.

Christian patted the pocket that contained the phone as if to make a mental note to do something about the voicemail. Flattered that he was she still remembered about them on top of all her other obligations, he really wished he could just have the courage to push her away before Elena got her involved.

"I am pretty certain that her motives could not have been revenge because you refused to invest in her salons," Taylor started up the car and pulled out of the club's parking lot.

Sawyer was still in the hospital for rehabilitation and physical therapy. Christian was footing the bill that was not covered by insurance in spite of strong objections from the patient and his family.

"I am also quite certain that all the reports about the car accident investigation came back squeaky clean of any planned attack. No evidence of conspiracy. You just happen to encounter that vehicle that was bound to crash into something. The driver made it though and as interviewed, though she is in much worse condition than Sawyer. There were no signs of any acknowledgement to any of this being anything but an accident due to faulty breaks." Taylor rambled the report sensing his boss's uneasy mood. It was very unlike him to speak that much while on duty but something told him that a complete professional setting was not what the boss need. He needed distraction.

"What about her and the pimp?"

"We have confirmed that they are indeed in contact and have been conspiring. The various news reports are staged and the sources all came from them as anonymous tippers."

"They won't stay anonymous forever."

"Are you wishing to tip the press with our findings?" Taylor was suddenly alarmed.

"I am considering it," Christian admitted unashamedly.

"Sir, I strongly advice against it," Taylor spoke quickly with a sense of urgency.

"Why?"

"We don't know Elena's motives yet, we only know that she is either trying to get your attention or trying to crumble what you have built. If we expose their messages, sure the media will come to our aid, but who's to say she doesn't have more to expose of you?"

Taylor was right to be cautious, and he was suddenly reminded of the lifestyle that he had given up two years ago for love. He was now in war with Elena, only they were fighting through the press as their proxy.

"Then, what do you advice our next step be? I want her gone before Ana gets back. I don't want to distance myself from her."

The bodyguard knew all too well about the internal battle that he was having. His conflicted acts were enough of an indication.

"Maybe I should just meet with her, it's clearly what she wants at the moment," he suggested, recalling a session with his therapist where he had made that decision.

"You should, but that should be done on her invitation. We can't reach out to her, because that will give her the satisfaction that she's gotten our attention."

"How do we know if she is actually going to reach out?"

"She will in a few days because you have been radio silence since the outburst. You've only managed to turn the tides at that brief award ceremony in DC."

"So, when she reaches out, and we meet, what information should I be fishing for?"

"The pimp is dying, so preferably we drag it until he dies or you skirt around the topic about him. You will need to find out what her plan is. The easiest way is to cooperate with her and if she strikes you a deal, you accept it."

"Be her friend?" He summarized his bodyguard's idea thinking he was out of his goddamn mind to use him as a bait.

"Essentially, because she is still a reputable woman in the society and she's vain, so just keep her close and you will get a sense of what she is on to."

"So, I'll just get lured into her trap?"

"My guess is that she's going to blackmail you into investing in her salons or try to up her client list."

"Blackmail?"

"You'll have to find out what leverage she has on you. I believe a prideful person like her will take any chance she gets to gloat to you. So, all you have to do is act like you want to work with her and be her friend. Show her that you're not the enemy."

"So, I'll have to lie about Ana, too?"

"By omission. Don't confess anything. Just recall the truth detachedly. Tell her something like you had a deal with Ana, which was initially how all this started."

"Is she going to buy it?"

"If she doesn't at first, stick with the story and insists that this is an arrangement between you and Ana with no feelings or anything personal involved. She will buy it eventually."

"So, I have to be in contact with her for a long time?"

"This is a war of attrition, and it will get brutal. I can see it coming, Mr Grey. You just need to believe. Trust that you have people in your corner to fight with you."

"This reminds me so much of Ana," he whispered somberly. "Anastasia said something similar last December."

"That's because we all believe that you will come out as the winner even it it cost you dearly. We all believe that you will earn back whatever it is that you've cost if you don't give up."

"Thanks, Taylor," Christian needed this pep-talk.

As a traumatized kid growing up, his mental state had never been strong. People thought he was a tough guy, but that was only because he was aloof and distant. "Do you think she got my mother involved?" It was a thought from a spur of a moment when eh thought about Elena's egoistic characteristic trait.

"Yes, knowing her, I do believe she will slowly infiltrate her into the plan. If she has not started already," Taylor added the last part in a smaller voice. He had already noticed something had changed with the way Grace was looking at Anastasia. It was no longer pure appreciation but rather a mixed emotions reflecting a confused mindset.

However, Christian didn't pay attention to the latter part, he was too busy doing his own analysis. He recalled the extravagant wedding that Elena had, and the way she branded her salons, marketing it as a high-end beauty and fashion center. She spent millions of dollars, inviting all kinds of influential fashion icon to advertise for her, only to have none of those social butterflies coming back.

"We're here," Taylor announced, his own mid occupied by what he had overheard and observed at DC. "Sir," he called again.

Guess he wasn't the only one that was deep in thought.

…

"You told me you are single."

That Danish neighbor just never gave up on gossiping about her non-existent love life. Granted he wouldn't go around spreading rumors or talking to people about it, but he just didn't know when to take a hint and shut up.

"Frederik, you are too blunt and straightforward."

"But, I was told that you Americans are laidback," he argued with a silently panting Anastasia. They just arrived at the building and had joined the back of the cue following the crowd to the large auditorium.

"We mostly are," she gritted out, now utterly annoyed at her over friendly neighbor.

"Who were you calling?" He just wouldn't give up, which made Anastasia believe that he probably had never tried to woo a woman before; unless Danish girls liked aggressive men. She couldn't decide, but she knew he was interested in her romantically, and she just couldn't return the sentiment.

"A friend back in the States," she replied vaguely, silently praying the group of people in front of them shuffle faster.

"Boyfriend?" He pressed.

Anastasia wanted to roll her eyes but she needed to remain polite because she still worked with him and his professor. She was going to write everything off as him being too young and inexperienced.

"No," she declined through gritted teeth. She pondered on giving him an extra bit of information so he could have something to chew on and lay off for a while, but they had just arrived at the entrance.

Once their passes were scanned, they parted ways to their respective groups. Anastasia breathed out in relief as she took a seat next to her team.

"You're with him again," she felt a tap on her shoulder immediately after she settled in, and she leaned back to meet the eyes of the person. He was seated a seat down. The woman in between them that was currently engrossed in a new round of Candy Crush was the pediatrician from Northwest Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. Anastasia wasn't familiar with her, but for the sake of working under the same hospital chain, they got acquainted and got along just fine. Though, most of her friends were from Northwest Hospital Seattle when they came over to the hospital in Baltimore following a visit from them.

"My neighbor? yeah," she rolled her eyes. "Do Danish people just don't know when to quit?" She lowered her voice and leaned even closer after glancing around the room to make sure that they were secluded.

He chuckled, also giving their surrounding an once over before leaning in and whispering. "He's obviously interested in you."

"Clearly, because even _I _caught on."

"He doesn't look bad, you know? Young, with salt-and-pepper hair, pointing nose…"

"Yeah, young. He's just got into his twenties and in college, and I'm a twenty-five year-old doctor."

"So? Unless you tend to go for older guys, like me? Or you actually didn't break up with Grey."

"Adam, don't remind me. Your stories are down-right traumatizing. Really. Perhaps you should take an interest in Frederik? He seems like your type rather than mine."

Adam was one of the doctors from Seattle, and one of the closer ones she was friends with from her making the news with Seattle's elite bachelor frequently and the exchange programs. He worked as a neurology physician. He used to be a surgeon full time but decreased to a part time consulting professor, mainly because he knew that he couldn't be a surgeon for his entire life.

"Then he's too young for me, woman. Maybe you should introduce him to that doctor from Johns Hopkins," Anastasia stared at him, not for his incredulous idea but for clarification on which doctor he was referring to. "The one from Baltimore," he snapped, but she still shook her head in confusion. "There's only one other doctor from Maryland other than yourself!"

"Bess?"

"Yes, her!" He snapped his fingers, making Candy Crush woman jump in her seat. They both patted her on her shoulders to calm her nerves simultaneously but very unnecessarily. "She looks like she's hunting for fresh meat."

"Oh my god, Adam. First, I don't know that woman. I only know the name and I don't even know what she looks like."

"I work with her, I'll point you to her. She's an oncologist."

"Speaking of professions, that reminds me. You know that Frederik is like a student here, right? His professor, well the one that I work with, has invited me to his MLDV lectures."

"Bravo, Steele. Good for you. I'll bet Grace is proud that at least someone in the next generation in the family is a doctor."

"Adam, please," Anastasia scowled and chastised. She sometimes forgot that Grace was an honorable pediatrician in Washington, even though she worked at Seattle General and not with Northwest, doctors still talked to one another. "You know Christian and I broke up right?"

"You did?" He feigned shock. "Certainly doesn't look like that on screen. Still, Grace did start to mention you less. Though, I think she is still trying to get you to their anesthesiology department."

"I think I will be sticking with U Dub."

"Oh, I can't say I don't love your loyalty."

Anastasia chuckled softly. She glanced around, catching Frederik's blatant stare. She shook her head. "I think I will introduce him to some other woman."

"Namely Bess," Adam mouthed deviously.

"Sure," Anastasia shrugged. Behind her mind, she was thinking about inviting Kate over for a bit when she got a break. Maybe Kate could hit it off with this young college dude. At least he was very willing.

The lecture soon began without allowing Adam to get in another word. She would head down to the bar or some place with the Northwest group but there was a conference that required the neurologists' attention, which left the other doctors to their own. At least, it would give her time to converse with the professor. Even if she was just an anesthesiologist—where her profession required an extensive knowledge of the human body—learning about the Vodder Method for Manual Lymphatic Drainage would only be beneficial to her.

…

AUGUST 2014

As she made her way back to her apartment hoping to not bump into her overzealous neighbor, so she could walk Taco in peace and think with a clear mind. She needed to reflect on the events of the past few months since March. It also didn't help her anxiety level that she hadn't heard from Christian in nearly a month. Even after she sent him a video of her and Taco with a chocolate cake on the day after their anniversary, there was nothing from him.

There was one thing in particular that was especially disturbing to her. When she met the Grey family at DC in June for the award ceremony for Christian, Grace had somewhat cornered her outside of the bathroom and demanded why she was chosen for the Copenhagen brain research quest and not her. There was an undercurrent in her tone as she spoke and Anastasia felt a little hostility from the more experienced doctor. All Anastasia could tell Grace was that their department was given the honor to select a doctor for this project to make up the team of anesthesiologists that only consisted of three people in total.

Since it was a brain research, which was still very experimental and nothing clinical, most of the members were neurologists, psychologists and psychiatrists. Not every profession had a doctor representative. Anastasia wasn't given the chance to explain because Grace kept cutting her off. There was nothing rude or impolite said, but it was implied and suggested in her tone that Grace was accusing her of something absurd.

That conversation left her the impression that Grace have a beef with her.

It was odd, to say the least.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	16. Confrontations

_**Confrontations**_

"Kate, finally! Here I thought you're another person set on ignoring me until I return to the States."

Anastasia finally had half a day to herself. Her neighbor went to lectures and the Northwest Hospital gang all retreated back to their own resident. Adam did promise to stop by later since she said she would be baking.

"I was on a roll, I swear, Steele! You have no idea what opportunity I was given in June," Kate recounted dreamily.

"What?"

"I got to cover the Coping Together Gala," she announced only to be faced with a confused Anastasia.

"Isn't that in Seattle?"

"It is, but it's so worth the trip!"

"What's to write about a charity ball? You're not writing for a fashion magazine, you're the journalist for the New York Times."

"You have no idea how big of an event this is. It's almost equivalent to Bill Gates's foundation."

"You're a-"

"I'm a news reporter. I don't write gossips for entertainment purposes, I relay facts to readers. Even though this isn't like some kind of exciting scoop for an investigative journalist, but it is an exclusive event."

"Why are the New York Times invited?" Anastasia still couldn't relate to the excitement that was shining through her best friend.

"Oh, because Coping Together is looking to expand their sphere of influence; they want to be influential over the whole of America," Kate informed with secrecy. "They want to make nationwide news and so papers from a lot of states are invited. All the big guys."

"Oh, wow. The one time that I'm not there, damn!" She jested giggly.

"Speaking of which, how's the kid from next door?" Anastasia had lamented to Kate about Frederik since he first started to annoy her and she had been keeping her up-to-date ever since.

Anastasia rolled her eyes exaggeratedly. "I'm trying to introduce him to other people. You know, to those who actually are looking for _fresh meat_, as Adam calls it."

"Adam," Kate laughed. "Oh, that guys is so funny. Shame that I only hear stories about him."

"Well, he's my closest friend among my colleagues," Anastasia didn't really want to classify him as a friend but a colleague. She wanted to keep work people and her other friends from her private life separate.

"Okay, so you don't have feelings for the Danish kid?"

"No! Oh, god, Kate. I do not have any feelings for him! He is as much a friend as my other colleagues."

"Fine, I digress. But, I do need to tell you something I witnessed when I was at the Coping Together Gala."

"Okay, if this is about the Greys…" Anastasia contemplated on rejecting any news about them but immediately decided against it. "Never mind, continue."

"Christian didn't have a date but he had been talking with that blonde barbie, Elena. I think that is the name. He didn't look happy after talking with his mother and then went to speak with Elena. I don't know what they're talking about but he seemed pissed off at his mother the entire evening and very dissatisfied with Elena for the duration of their conversation."

"What did Elena's facial expression look like?"

"Oh, she's always appearing to be friendly and she seemed a little vicious that night with the way she sort of snarled at Christian. But that soon turned into a smirk. She's constantly talking to Grace."

Anastasia was now alarmed and wary. She knew that the news regarding the pimp was staged by her to get Christian's attention, but what she claimed in the news wasn't defamation either. It was simply spreading rumors.

"Did you know that Elena was a porn star?" Kate blabbered on zealously—clearly having already done her research and digging on the woman—when Anastasia was covered in cold sweat and worrying about Christian.

"I did," she didn't miss a beat, thankfully, or else Kate would start to question her.

"Christian told you didn't he? I'll bet he's got dirty secrets on everyone. If only I get to interview him."

"Maybe you'll get a chance in the future, but I think he's too busy right now. There's a lot going on for him," she defended for him, deflecting another interview request knowing his current situation.

"It's always interesting that the guy who claimed to be his biological father just went mute. It was like he's gone into hiding," Kate wondered. "I mean, it was such a scandal. Do you think Christian's done something? Wait, what am I saying, of course you know what he's up to."

"I haven't talked to him in over a month, Kate. I haven't heard from him since early July."

"That's very odd for the two of you," Kate frowned.

"We kind of just fizzled out."

"I don't believe you. I'm not buying it. Have you seen the pictures of you two from the award ceremony? No one would believe it if you told them that you guys aren't dating."

"It was for show, to fool people like you, Kate."

"Oh, we certainly are fooled. Most definitely," Kate deadpanned sarcastically.

"Kate, we aren't talking okay? I'm like isolated here. I only talk to you, my parents and the people here."

Kate still didn't look convinced.

"Oh! I need to tell you something. It happened at the award ceremony. And, it's off the record," she emphasized.

"Of course," Kate nodded seriously, making a move to stow away her recorder only to laugh at Anastasia's horrified expression. "Oh my god, you don't actually think that I would record anything we said? I mean, I talk shit about the company I work for, for Christ's sake! I would never go on record with anything you told me."

"You really scared me there for a moment, because from what you told me about how Grace and Elena were always talking and Christian being noticeably upset spurs a suspicion of mine."

"I'm listening."

"You know that I've told you how so many of my colleagues in my department turned down this opportunity to come here for a year, right?"

"I remember you telling me that they sort of asked you to step in last minute?"

"Yes. I am only a very young doctor, so naturally it wouldn't be me to go on those expeditions."

"Yeah, but it fell on your head because all the other doctors declined. Yes, you told me that. Skip that part."

"The team consists of a variety of professions in the medical field."

"You've also told me that. Skip."

"So, Grace approached me at DC."

"Okay…?"

"More like cornered me after I came out of the bathroom."

"What?" Kate exclaimed, her eyes now bulging out.

"Let me finish. She demanded, like quite literally inquired upfront why I was chosen for the brain research since I am not yet an experienced medical person."

"How rude?"

"She literally questioned my motives behind accepting that assignment. As if it was my choice! I didn't volunteer to go, I didn't sign up for it; I didn't even know about this until I was told I need to go."

"So, what did you tell her?"

"Obviously, I gave her a professional response, which is that my department was given the honor, and I was appointed."

"And, how did she take it?"

"Considering her previous demeanor, I'd say quite well. It was odd for her to ask me such a question in the first place. But then again, there was something off about her the last time I met her. I felt like she had heard something nasty about me and believed it to be true."

"Could it be possible that Christian was pissed about them talking shit about you?"

"It could be," Anastasia knew first-hand how protective he was of her. "But, why would she have any motives to spread rumors about Christian?"

"Who? I'm not following."

"Elena. I've told you that this woman never liked me. Grace genuinely appreciated me even after I moved to Baltimore. Taylor also told me secretly that Grace teared up at the ER exchange. You know, the part where I almost felt like not going to Copenhagen and move back to Seattle after seeing him post-accident?"

"Okay, I get what you're thinking. The thing is, Ana, you've missed something."

Anastasia frowned, mentally recollecting what she had just said.

"Your man is getting richer each day, and getting there fast. He's getting more recognition than people expected him to receive at his age, especially in his field of business or scope, I should say, and he's a college dropout. So, there are a lot of people out there who are envious, jealous and begrudging of his success. Thousands of people would kill for his wealth, hence the bodyguards. So, there really is no need for a motive other than being desirous and resentful of his money and fame. Elena will think that it's not fair."

"How do you know that?"

"I'm a journalist. Elena isn't exactly living the most private life. So, naturally I dug into her profile and background. Elena is just one of the many that are attempting to destroy Christian and his empire, simply because they thought it should've been them with all the cash and luxury."

"Is that your theory?"

"My 'theory' is that, based on what you've told me and what I already know, Elena is just lucky that she is already inside. You know what I mean? Everyone who's trying to hurt Christian failed because he's got a very strong shield protecting him on the outside. But, she's going to hurt him from the inside, which is why she's been able to make so many impactful moves. You told me yourself that Elena was most likely the one that tipped the news station with the news that came out on Christmas Eve."

"At least your theory answered one of my questions."

"It's not a theory, Steele! I don't have a theory. I cannot formulate one because I don't know everything. You won't tell me!" Kate corrected.

"No, I won't tell you everything. But, you've been helpful."

"Good! I don't want to talk about that anymore. Tell me more about your neighbor. So far, I only know that he's super annoying, but very friendly and teaches you Danish."

"You want to know what he looks like, I know you, Kavanagh. It is why I never told you before," Anastasia smiled evilly.

"Stop teasing me, woman!"

"Let me tell you something," she leaned closer to the computer screen carrying a secretive smile. "He's ripped! Like totally spend ages in the gym working out," her words were quickly swallowed by Kate's squeal. "He's got salt-and-pepper hair, pointy nose. He's tall and lean. He is gorgeous. Like model standard. Especially when he's in casual clothes, or tank top."

"Oh, you like him."

"Who doesn't like a good looking guy?"

"What about the one back home?"

"Kate!"

"Oh, wait, you haven't talked in ages. Why don't you do something about this seemingly perfect neighbor?"

"Well, I just told you that he's annoying."

"That's because he likes you."

"That's the problem," Anastasia determined. "He's not my type."

"How is he not your type? Have you seen that drool at the corner of your mouth when you described him to me earlier?"

"You're exaggerating. I am merely admiring the looks of another charismatic male. I am a single woman, who's to say I cannot judge the appearance of a man, who is also single. Just appreciating the view, there's no feelings involved. I'm not even attracted to him the slightest."

"What is your type then? Oh, forget it, don't answer that. I know. Of course you're still hung up on him just like he is on you."

"Frederik lacked the mysteriousness and the dark angel vibes that shrouded Christian. The boy is too bright, optimistic, and positive."

"You don't like that kind of personality?"

"Not after I've been with someone less lenient and much more powerful."

"Oh, Ana!" Kate teased.

"Fill me in on your life. Is there anyone?"

Kate lamented on her work, the guys she was sleeping with—further proving that Elliot was just one of her many conquests.

When their passionate talks of men had died down, and Kate accusing Anastasia of leading Frederik on when she wasn't remotely interested, they fell into a comfortable silence. Neither wished to hang up just yet, but neither had any more to say. By the look on Kate's face, she could tell that her fried was looking at something else. So, instead of staring at Kate's concentrated face, scrunched up eyebrows and all, Anastasia opened her own email.

"Kate!" She gasped, "oh, you're going to love this. Do you have any breaks any time soon?"

"When are you talking about? I am spending Thanksgiving with my family in Ethan's apartment. Then, I… haven't make any plans for Christmas or the New Year. Why?"

"This program is apparently a long-term one. They want to expand it, and they're asking who wants to remain."

"Are you going to stay?"

"No, I'm not going to stuck on brain research forever! I won't get any results in my lifetime. The majority of the experiments we conduct here are still too advanced for clinical use. So, if I stay with the brain then I'd be experimenting in labs for the rest of my life."

"So, you're only doing a year's worth of research?"

"I am thinking about extending to three years, but I don't have enough capital," she was reminded of her pact with Christian and her career goal she had set herself. As interesting and intriguing the human mind was, being a researcher cost a lot, and if Anastasia wanted her car and be the top paid doctor, she would have to give up being a full-time scientist. Unless she could come up with some Nobel Prize worth discovery or invention.

"Get Christian to sponsor you."

"Oh, god, no."

Kate's offhanded comment had threw Anastasia in the deep end as she wondered what exactly was going with him.

"But that's not what I want to tell you," Anastasia steered their conversation back. "There will be a farewell party in March. Well, more like the beginning of April according to the email. Do you want to come?"

"Fly all the way to Copenhagen just to be your date? Why don't you ask Christian?"

"He won't reply to my texts. I told you we're not talking anymore."

"Do you want me to find out what he's been up to?"

"No, it's okay. Just tell me if you'll have time to come over. If I stay for another year or two, then there'll be plenty of time for you to visit but I'm still thinking. I did learn a lot here."

"You still have more than half a year there. I will save the date for you, but who knows, maybe you'll finally succumb to the charms of that kid."

"Oh, please, Kate. We refer to him as a kid. What do you think is going to happen?"

"Will Adam be staying?"

"I haven't asked, but he seems to fancy Danish male more than Americans," she wriggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what he decides, I need to think about it."

They talked for a few more minutes before saying goodbye and ending the chat. Anastasia sat there and pondered, but she couldn't focus on anything when all she had been trying to get her mind around before Kate called was what she was going to bake. Her Instagram account hadn't been touched for a few months now. The measuring cups before her only reminded her that she needed to make something.

…

"Adam," her deep-in-thought attitude had him worried for a while after a few minutes of silence as they munched on the freshly baked snacks on the table. "Do you think people are gullible? To close friends," she swallowed nervously in hopes that he would play along with her random and generic question. She waved her hand to gesture that he could fill in the blanks himself.

"Gullible?" The question caught him off guard. They were no longer int he joking mood, that much was obvious. "I don't know. What makes you think that?" It really was an innocent question that was to be expected, but now it put Anastasia in a place where she had to think just how much she was going to reveal.

"Just, um… my friend told me that someone changed their opinion about her. It felt like it was a drastic change overnight. Very sudden and she thought if it was because of a rumor or someone whispered something." Anastasia recovered from her initial frozen state and made up something on the spot. To add to the authenticity of the guise of 'asking for a friend' she added, "um… she's a journalist."

"Well, I mean the media world is pretty intense. People literally fight for scoops with their lives. I guess it's understandable that she suspected that someone was talking ill of her behind her back. Personally, I wouldn't change my mind of someone that I know in person drastically just because another person suggested otherwise. With that said though, if it was a confidant of mine, then I am more likely to re-evaluate what I think about that person."

Anastasia nodded, she got what she was asking for. It was enough for her to think about just how close Grace and Elena really were.

"We are talking very generically and vaguely here," he checked.

"Yes," she affirmed, quickly assuring him.

…

"Mr Grey, Mrs Lincoln requested to schedule an appointment."

"When?" Christian turned around the shared a look with Taylor before the latter disappeared into the security office. He almost missed a step there.

"Today," Andrea replied after checking the note.

It was a good thing that he wasn't drinking his coffee yet. Though very little could elicit a reaction out of him lately as he had become disinterested in many thing since his last encounter with Anastasia, and also the events at Coping Together. However, as much as he was expecting a message from Elena, he never anticipated her to actually make an appointment with him instead of just barging into his office like they were friends.

This turn of event would surely get him to choke on his coffee if not on his own spit first.

"When did you schedule her?" He asked the efficient assistant thoughtfully.

"She prefers the afternoon, so I scheduled her in as your last appointment. It is the only slot available in the afternoon."

He nodded his head, now believing that she was merely trying to get his attention with the birth father fiasco. Perhaps she was just really desperate for his involvement in the salons.

"Oh," Andrea added running after him. "A Miss Kavanagh from the New York Times called."

"Who?" Christian couldn't think of anyone that he knew who worked for the New York Times. Though, the name did sound familiar.

"She said her name is Kate Kavanagh?" Andrea took in the confused look on her boss's face and thought she had answered a phone call from the press who was trying to goad them into an interview or something. "She said that it's personal so didn't leave a message."

"Kate?" He frowned at Andrea as if she could confirm the identity of the woman he was referring to. "How the hell did she get the number to my office?" He mumbled.

"Should I just forget about this call?"

"No," Christian's answer clearly came as a shock to his assistant. In all the years that she had worked for him, he had never gave any reporters the time of the day. "Call her back and put her through," he had no idea what prompted him to give this instruction but he just wanted to talk to her, probably because she was the best friend of Anastasia.

"Mr Grey, I have Miss Kavanagh."

Christian picked up his receiver but didn't say anything other than his usual greeting.

"Grey," once Andrea put her phone down, Kate started speaking without further ado.

"You have the worst timing, I swear Grey! If I get caught for taking personal calls right now they would tattle on me saying that I took my lunch break early," Kate hissed in his ear.

"Personal call?" Christian questioned. He was still very much wary of reporters. Especially when he had believed them and returned their call, which was an once in a lifetime occurrence.

"Yes, Grey! This is off the record and I called using my own phone."

"Then why didn't you call me directly?"

"Because I don't have your number, idiot. I really wouldn't be bothered to call you if it wasn't for Ana." He didn't even get the chance to snap at her for being offensive because her next words definitely stopped him from hanging up.

"What about her?"

"Now you're listening," he could hear her smirk. "I need to check on you to fulfill the duty of a best friend."

"Why do you feel the need to check on me?"

"You didn't reply to her texts and you aren't talking to her."

"Is she worried?"

"Of course she is. You just cut her off without much of an explanation."

He went silent. There was nothing he could say to her without disclosing too much about himself. He was only trying to get used to being distant about her so he could be prepared when he faced Elena. He needed to make Elena believe that Anastasia wouldn't be a permanent fixture in his life. He thought by pushing her away, he could focus on getting rid of Elena sooner, so he could have his happily ever after.

"She thinks you guys are fizzling out."

"What am I to do?"

"Talk to her!" Kate almost yelled if not for her work setting displayed before her.

"I can't. It's best if she thinks that we're through."

"But that obviously isn't the case. No one believes that you two actually broke up. Even your mother doesn't. Or else she wouldn't have cornered her at that award ceremony."

"She did what? Kate, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm ridiculous? Why would I make something like this up? I only just talked to her yesterday night."

Christian pondered. He knew of Kate's loyalty to Anastasia and it was only her career that he was against, not her as a person.

"What did she say to Ana?"

Kate recounted all that she was told, not exaggerating one bit.

"This is fucked-up," he murmured. He was now in no mood to remain calm and listen to Elena bullshit and lie right in his face. It had already been proven that she had been whispering in Grace's ears. "Okay, thank you for telling me this."

"And?" She pressed expecting him to just hangup on her.

"And for checking on me," he humored her with a sigh, "but I think it's better if we keep this conversation between ourselves, for now."

"Fine, but if you want to surprise her with a visit. There's a party at the beginning of April. Some sort of farewell ball in Copenhagen. I don't even know why I am helping you and telling you all this," she caught herself quickly before she could make more recommendations to push him to make a move.

"Thank you for telling me this, then."

The way he conducted this entire phone call troubled Kate. He sounded distracted and not himself. He even thanked her, three times. He also humored her by acknowledging her effort to check on him on behalf of Anastasia.

This was not the Christian Grey. Not the one she knew

But, she wasn't given the liberty to contemplate on the whole thing. The notification flashed across the corner of the computer reminding her of her upcoming assignment deadline.

…

"Ros, take the jet," his tone was uncompromising and final.

"What is wrong with you today?" His COO studied his profile tilting her head and frowning.

"Just a lot going on."

"We can slow down, I still don't understand why you're in such a rush to make more money when you are already well into the millionaire status."

He shook his head refusing to give her an answer.

"Take the jet to Baltimore," he repeated firmly.

"What about you?"

"I'm flying commercial."

Ros's scowl deepened. "You are too stressed, Christian. You can't work yourself like this."

"I am fine."

"You're obviously not."

"Just go to Baltimore and check out that shipyard after you're done with what you have in hand right now. I want to hear your opinion. I will be dealing with Asia. You can go to New York afterwards, it's probably time to expand the office there."

"When are you flying out?"

"After Thanksgiving," there was no way he could escape the dinner with his family especially when his mother was already being whispered in the ear constantly by some villain in his life. "I'll be back in January."

"So, you're not going to be here for the Christmas party?"

"No," he shook his head. "it's not like I usually attend them. I only did the last two times because Ana wanted to come."

"Maybe you should go to Europe instead. Surprise her and spend some time with her. She clearly is your saving grace."

"No arguments there, but I can't walk away from so many negotiations when we are in the middle of discussing the potentials."

"Excuses, excuses. Whatever you decide," Ros sighed dejectedly. She knew that there would be nothing to stop him if he really wanted to see Anastasia even just for an hour. Anyone with eyes could see the positive effects Anastasia had on him; unless they didn't want the best for him.

"When are you coming back?" He asked before Ros left him in peace.

"Before Christmas I presume. I'll see how it goes. I am going to San Francisco first for the conference."

Christian acknowledged her information and thought about a repeat of last year and go to London or somewhere in Europe, accepting one of the many invitations he had received.

"I can leave before Thanksgiving so I can send the jet back for you."

"No, it's okay. Do something with Gwen even if you don't really care for the holiday."

Ros gave him a strange glance, and walked toward the door of his office. He didn't look up from the files that he was going over in his hands. She lingered at the doorway and studied him with deep concern, but still exited without another word.

This wasn't the worst of his day.

As the time for his appointment with Elena neared, his anxiety level rose along with each tick of the second.

…

"Oh, yes, I have been talking with your mother a lot lately. Grace is very concerned that Anastasia is going to have a negative impact on your blooming career. She's going to throw you off balance and distract you from your goals."

"Were they my mother's concerns or were they yours?"

"Well, your mother was kind enough to talk to the right people to offer Anastasia a spot to go abroad to study and do research." And, he finally understood why Grace cornered Anastasia the last time they met, she was going to make sure that her involvement wasn't exposed.

"And, was that also your idea?" He knew if Elena had answered something directly it would mean that it was true, but if she avoided providing a direct response then it would only confirm his suspicion had been correct.

"It is a good opportunity, and she would be stupid to turn down such a chance."

"So, you went whispering in my mother's ear to separate Ana and I? How classy," he snorted. "You know, you didn't have to go through all this trouble to get rid of her."

"I wouldn't call it whispering. And, I don't believe you would've willingly let her go, Christian. You and her are all your mother gushes about. I have to pre-warn her, it is my duty as her friend to do so. I have to warn her before she gets her heart broken when you have come to your senses and realize that the life you are living with her just isn't what you want."

"Okay, so now that you've got my attention. You've isolated me, what is it that you wish to say to me?"

"So you are not completely oblivious to the messages that I am sending you. It is a shame that I have to use the press to get your attention. It would've been much easier if you haven't blocked my number and restricted my access to your properties."

"Well, I am not sure that we have any other issues to discuss since our last meeting." He purposefully left out the specific content of their last meeting in this exact same office. It was like re-enacting the scene from over a year ago.

"If you think I'm still stuck on the investment problem then you surely have underestimated me. I not only using the press to gain your attention."

He didn't cower under her scrutinizing glare, thought he did realize that he had misinterpreted her motives. He noticed that she had visibly raised her head higher. Nonetheless, he remained his stance.

"I am here to warn you that you should watch out in the future. You have more at stake than I do. Your reputation for instance. From my perspective, it is still not as solid as mine. Look at how the public is swayed so easily with a few pieces of articles about your biological father. By the way, do you wish to see him?"

Christian gave no response and his facial expression remained impassive but his fingers twitched and his jaw ticked ever so slightly; she did struck a sore spot.

"That's what I thought. You know," Elena was clearly very entertained and amused that she was on the upper hand. She knew all his secrets and she was going to take utmost advantage of her exclusive knowledge. "It might be very damaging to your reputation if you refuse to give your very sick—or should I say dying—father a chance."

"What are you getting out of ruining my reputation?" He thought about suing her for defamation, but he knew that she was doing was merely twisting the truth and toying with the very gullible public because they have so limited records of him.

"I don't get anything, but I am sheerly one of the many that wants to see you fail. I am just lucky enough that I am an insider, which makes everything so much easier. Don't you think?" That was a rhetorical question because she clearly wasn't finished. "I've got nothing to lose, so why not make a name of myself by taking up against _the_ Christian Grey? It would be fun."

Christian refrained from bursting out a string of profanities and calling her derogatory names. He couldn't throw threats at her without her exposing his secrets. The very same ones that she was using as leverages against him at the moment.

"You remember our lifestyle, Christian? Control is exactly what you need right now. I can see how stressed you are. You need to find yourself a submissive. Or I could do it for you." He wicked smile told him that she was alluding to so much more than just him returning to the old lifestyle. He just couldn't pin-point what exactly at the moment.

One problem was that she just wanted to control him and he knew that she was blackmailing him, he just needed to find out the material she possessed.

The other problem was, the idea of obtaining a sub was very tempting.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	17. Know You All Too Well

_**Know You All Too Well**_

DECEMBER 2014

The wheels of the plane touched down on the tarmac with a heavy thud. After a twelve-hour commute, Anastasia was finally back to the States. She didn't inform any friends of her return but she did give her parents a heads-up.

Taco sat next to her with a dog mask occupying the seat next to her. He was now the size of a two year-old St. Bernard. Thankfully he was more of a calm kind than the hyper-excited ones so he was easily trained to behave. The duo waited till every last passenger had disembarked before exiting the plane with him on a tight leash.

When she arrived in the penthouse that she resided in whenever she was in Seattle, little had changed. Though, the air felt different. Even though all the furniture had been as they were since she was last here and everything in the bedroom was ordered how she remembered.

The penthouse just didn't seem like it had been occupied for a long time.

Taco went sniffing around the place he once called home when he was just a few months old, and still remembered the small cushion he used as a bed in the master's suite.

The place was never lively even when people lived in it, and now that it was void of any trace of life. It felt even duller.

She casually brushed her fingers across the surface of the smooth island counter in the kitchen, and they were instantly covered in dust. She then opened the fridge only to find out that it was mostly empty apart from a few canned food.

The series of discoveries deepened her frown.

She made her way to the security office with Taco trotting behind with his pillow hanging in his mouth. This was the one place where there would always be someone, even if the master of the house wasn't at home.

But when she pushed opened the door after entering the passcode, it was eerily quiet.

The monitors were still alit and she could hear the noises of the fans inside the machines, but again, there was no trace of any human habitation.

With a scowl on her face, she went back to the master's bedroom and closed the door after Taco. Her thoughts were racing a mile a minute.

Her first thought was to call Kate but when she checked the time, it was already very late at night in New York. Since her family was flying out to Manhattan for the Christmas ball or some social event, they decided to just spend New Year's Eve in the Big Apple.

Sighing heavily, she tossed her phone onto the bed and threw herself on top of the cover, making the phone bounce up again. Staring blankly at the ceiling she felt so doomed. There she was trying to surprise Christian only to find out that he wasn't home; and, hadn't been for quite a while.

A sudden realization dawned her at that moment—she hadn't been in contact with Christian since the beginning of July, what made her think a businessman like him would be staying in one place for long. Besides, what was she still doing in his house when she clearly wasn't in his life anymore.

Anastasia felt like an utter loser.

She groaned into the sheets and decided then and there that she was going to move her stuff out and store it with her parents in Montesano.

But, she was going to sleep first.

Walking into the bathroom, she was shocked to see all of her stuff still on the shelf untouched. Her toothbrush still sharing a cup with Christian's and the pads and tampons she left here still in the cabinets.

She could've easily interpreted everything as he had welcomed another woman into his life if not for the sticker that she had stuck on the wall herself, labelling a section of the towel rack as 'Ana's side'. She still remembered how they joked about how she kept whining at him for using her fluffy towel and making it hard and course to the touch, so she told him that he wasn't allowed to touch the towels hanging on her side, hence the sticker.

Evidently, her favorite towel was hanging from her side of the rack stiffly, unused.

After she had freshened up, she laid back on the bed and continued to stare at the ceiling blankly like an idiot. It was like the owner of this house had died and abandoned this place, and she was here only because she was the next of kin.

The thought sent a shudder through her body and she immediately dismissed the thought. Her mind went straight back to wondering where Christian was.

Since Gail wasn't even in the house, it could only mean that she followed Taylor and Christian on the trip somewhere because he knew they would be there for a while.

She mindlessly felt around for her phone and when she grabbed it, she dialed the number that she rarely call with a numb mind. The room no longer smelled like Christian, even the pillow and bed sheets no longer had the Christian Grey scent. Even his cologne was taken out of the cabinet, the remainder ones were all new and unopened. The one she bought him was on his nightstand, with half a bottle left—he hadn't been using it.

"Taylor," she said in a small voice when it was answered.

"Dr Steele?" The man's voice sounded surprised and the professional address sounded oddly estranged.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your day, but I just want to ask where Christian is," she chewed her lip nervously. It used to be such a casual question and now it sounded foreign and stalker-like.

"Mr Grey is currently in Taiwan on business." The detached and stoic tone of voice from the bodyguard was alarming and she now truly felt like she was intruding.

"When is he coming back?" She spoke before her courage waned.

"He is scheduled to return to Seattle in late January or early February. He will also be stopping in China and Singapore," Taylor informed, he trust that Anastasia could keep the man's whereabouts to herself.

"When did he leave?"

"We departed after Thanksgiving to Japan, and only just arrived in Taiwan."

"He's going to spend Christmas and New York alone?" Anastasia gasped at what Taylor was inferring to.

"Mr Grey has… company," Taylor responded in a clipped tone but his hesitation and reservation in providing this piece of information was also evident in his voice. His choice of word was the most alarming to Anastasia.

"I should pack my things," she whispered but before Taylor could dissuade her, she asked. "Taylor, how do I activate the service elevator?"

"You can have your items packed in boxes and I will have them moved to your desired destination." Taylor sighed heavily inwardly, as confused and scared as his boss was after the confrontation with Elena, he knew he would never want Anastasia's things removed. It was the one reason he would never allow visitors to his home, he wanted to savor the evidence of her existence.

"Okay, thank you, Taylor. I will call you tomorrow after I packed up."

"Stay the night there, Ana," Taylor knew enough about the doctor to have reasons to suspect that she would settle in an unsafe hotel for one night's convenience. Of course, the boxes were never going to be removed from the premise, it would go into storage along with some of Christian's property in the storage room.

"I will," she assured in a barely audible whisper. Taylor figured she had taken the news hard. "Merry Christmas, Jason."

"You too, Ana." He lowered his voice compassionately after hearing the sniffle that escaped her after her whisper. He hung up the phone figuring that he needed to remain loyal to his employer no matter how much he empathized the woman.

He couldn't betray his boss's confidence any more than he already had, so he had to endure watching Anastasia suffer.

…

_"You remember our lifestyle?"_

_"I've got nothing to lose, so why not make a name of myself…"_

The words played in Christian's head in repeat since she left his office in August. Taylor heard and recorded every single thing, but this simply wasn't enough evidence to sue Elena for blackmail or threatening.

Everyone but them would think that it was merely Elena coming on to Christian too strong, but since they were both consenting adults, there was nothing they could do on a legal base.

Of course he remembered their lifestyle. She introduced him to it and she pimped for him. In his fucked-up mental state that he had not realize what he was. He was just like his prostitute of a mother, except for the drugs, he had a pimp and he was a slut for fucking woman after woman under the guise of a contractual arrangement.

Sure, he followed the motto of BDSM—sane, safe, and consensual—but he had invested no emotions into them. He threw monetary goods at those woman in hopes to keep them at arms length, but eventually failed.

_Perhaps it was the aftercare._ He thought to himself.

That might be the part where the subs were given the impression that he cared more than he let on.

No matter how much it had played him, the thought of having full rein on someone was very inviting, even it was just for one scene.

He couldn't suppress the desire to let lose of the frustration pent up in him, he went to an exclusive club where they went beyond measures to protect the identity of their clients. It was a strictly members' only club.

That was early November.

He signed a contract with a submissive whom he had vetted thoroughly before revealing his true identity to.

"Taylor!" Christian yelled again. He had just stepped out of the shower and his sub was already in the common room in his executive suite.

It was odd that his bodyguard didn't appear instantaneously the first time he summoned him. He had already waited for a few minutes for his bodyguard to escort the sub to her own hotel room.

"I apologize, sir," Taylor bowed his head contritely, having almost been caught for being in contact with Anastasia earlier, Gail came out to save his ass so Grey was unaware.

"Where were you?" Christian demanded, half buying Gail's story of an upset stomach.

"I have a very weak stomach," Taylor explained, and this absurdly alluded to the only other person he knew who had a weak digestive system, and he briefly wondered if she had gained some weight.

Christian frowned but didn't question further as he instructed the buzz cut to escort the woman to her room on a different floor. Then come back to meet him.

Elena had been silent, too silent, these past several months.

Nothing was wrong when he showed up at his parents' house for their dinner until he found Elena stopping by after they dined. She was even closer to Grace, and Christian could see that his father had also fell under the spell.

He came to realize that as long as the conversation didn't steer toward Anastasia, his parents would be happy. Despite Elliot and Mia both singing Anastasia's praises, and grilling him about what their status was, their parents both seemed to believe what Elena was implying. Which was that Anastasia used him as a stepping stone and now was in Copenhagen as a part of a national funded research project at such a young age.

The sub did help him burn off the stress in him but a part of him still felt guilty for contracting a submissive when he would still be reminded of Anastasia everywhere he went.

"Mr Grey," Taylor returned and took a seat across his employer at the dining table where Gail laid out the room services they had ordered. She tentatively took a seat next to Taylor uncertain whether her presence was welcomed or not, but she didn't receive any objections; so, she stayed.

"Do we know what she's up to? Christian dived straight into the subject just like he did to his meal.

"There's no unusual activity from the tail. No sight of her with any underaged boy is reported."

"She has been too quiet since she last threatened me in my office."

"We have been able to obtain her schedule and it seems like she will be away to Paris for some sort of fashion event."

"Good, search her house then," Christian instructed. It was an order that needn't to be said, because Taylor knew all too well that this would be the best time to gather the photos and contracts Christian had foolishly sent over when he contracted a new submissive. He thought he was leaving a copy with the woman, but he didn't know that he was digging his own grave. His insurance photographs were the most crucial object, it was the most effective leverage Elena held over Christian.

"Sir, with all due respect," Taylor swallowed nervously. "I think it would be wise if you inform your parents of your history with Mrs Lincoln, if not to your entire family."

"Absolutely not!" Christian roared and Gail was jumped startled by his outburst that she dropped her fork. "Sorry," he muttered in her direction.

"It is crucial that you stop your parents from continuing to stay under her spell. Mrs Lincoln has a more solidified and stable social standing than you in the community. She has more influence over public opinion." Taylor cautioned.

"What am I to do, Taylor? Elena has already brainwashed my mother, she's had the both of them infiltrated so deeply with the believe that I am throwing my future away because of Anastasia. They wouldn't listen to a thing I have to say, especially if it is anything negative about Elena."

"They are your parents."

"Taylor, do you know who we are up against? Elena is squeaky clean on paper. She does not have an offshore account because she's not rich enough. There is no record of her being involved in any kind of illegal activities. The statute of limitation for me is over so I don't stand a leg, especially when there is no tangible proof that we had a history of that sort."

"She is careful about leaving traces behind, and that is because she knows you too well. And, how does she know you so well? Your mother confides so much in her. So, you've found the root to the problem, you should eliminate it when you still have the chance. You will need your parents' support to damage her social standing. Do it before it's too late." Taylor urged.

"It is already too late."

"No, it's better now than later."

"When we get ahold of the copies, she will have nothing to hold over me."

"So, you want to wait. It is better to act now." Taylor's words fell on deaf ears once again. "She is leaving in mid-March. According to the calendar, she's not coming back until a month later."

"So, that means I get time to go to Denmark."

"I'm sorry?"

"Ana has a… dance that she's invited to… for their research… and they're allowed a plus one," Christian explained hastily, words rushing out of his mouth nervously and his hands waved in the air in circles as he stumbled over his sentence.

"Is there anything that you want to do in regards to Mrs Lincoln?"

"Keep monitoring her. Follow her into the clubs if need be."

"I think she is aware that you have eyes on her. Which is why she is keeping her life appearing to look ordinary."

Christian ran his finger through his hair frustratedly. He knew it just as much as Taylor that he needed to come up with something unexpected by Elena to get ahead of her. His unwillingness to reveal Elena's true form was already a set back.

…

They were in the car when Taylor's phone rang, the display on the hands-off device showing the caller ID. _Dr Steele_.

"You're talking to Ana?" Christian exclaimed, unable to hide the fact that he had invaded his privacy and glanced at the screen.

"Yes, sir," Taylor confessed as he hit answer, effectively shutting Christian up.

"Hi Taylor, I hope I'm not interrupting." Her sweet voice came through the bluetooth and Christian almost groaned.

"No, it's okay."

"I will be quick. Um… so I have the boxes in the foyer. There are really light. I'm thinking about moving it to my parents' house."

"Noted. I will have them moved soon."

"Okay, thank you so much, Taylor! I'm heading to Montesano now, should I tell my parents to expect your men any time after the New Year?"

"That won't be necessary," Taylor stole a glance at his boss who had an unreadable expression on his face. "How are you heading to Montesano?" For the sanity fo his physically strong but mentally fragile employer who he had come to value as a friend, he asked since his phone was on speaker.

"I am taking the bus."

"Take one of my cars," Christian barked, unable to hold back, he wasn't going to compromise on her safety.

"Christian?"

"I'm sorry, Ana, we are en route to the hotel." Taylor quickly explained trying to diffuse the situation having already detected the change in Anastasia.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it must be really late there. I am so sorry to intrude!"

"Take my car," Christian repeated. He wanted to call her name and talk to her, but something was stopping him and he didn't even know why he was being so short-tempered with her. He was upset with Taylor, not her; never at her.

"Okay, Christian," Anastasia sighed defeatedly. "I took a key fob randomly off of the hook, because they all look the same, so I'll just drive whichever car that responded and hope that Taco doesn't scratch the seats."

They could hear the jingling of the keys clinking against each other. Christian heaved out a heavy breath, his emotions were going haywire when he heard her voice for the first time in such a long time.

"Drive safe, Ana." He wanted to say more but refrained himself.

"I will," she promised.

"Happy holidays," Taylor bid and Anastasia wished them both a Merry Christmas an a happy New Year, and she hung up.

Something changed when she heard his voice, it turned heavy and it was different. She was no longer chirpy like when she first called. And now, he was regretting his outburst because if he hadn't make his presence known, maybe he'd be able to hear her voice a tad bit longer and she'd sound more like herself.

"What is she talking about with the boxes?" He demanded his bodyguard already having an inkling of what they were talking about.

Taylor looked apprehensive. He was now in a difficult position. Either way, it would seem like he had interfered with his personal business.

"Dr Steele wants to move out."

"Of Escala?" Taylor nodded. "Why?"

"She believes that you have moved on," he offered vaguely. Albeit, the interpretation was accurate and true.

"Moved on? Did you tell her that I have a sub?" The boss accused hotly.

"You weren't in contact with her, so she assumed-"

"That I don't want her?" Christian finished incredulously, not believing what he was now hearing.

"She feels like she is intruding your space."

"That's ridiculous! There is a reason that I didn't change the codes and never gave it to anyone; not even my family."

"I don't plan on moving the boxes out, I intend to put them in your storage room."

"No!" Christian shouted scowling, confusing his driver. "Put everything back. I don't want to see her leave. This is getting too far," he muttered the last part. "Surely she should know that the sub is only for show."

"Elena also assumed that you and Dr Steele are for the cameras only," Taylor reminded.

"But she is not coming into my home. I will make her believe that Ana is for show when this sub actually is the one putting on an act with me."

"Then, you should think of a resolution."

"We get the pictures and other blackmail material so we can be done with her. At least she won't be hovering over me."

Taylor kept his mouth shut even thought he desperately wanted to urge Christian to tell his parents about his history with the pedophile. It would really surprise Elena if he confessed.

Elena knew Christian wouldn't reveal her dirty dealings with him, which was why she was so bold in trying to sway Grace and brainwash Carrick into thinking that Christian's choice in women was making him ignorant, hence the news and commenting on his personalities.

…

Anastasia followed the sound and the flashing headlights as she searched and located the SUV with its lights alit. She sighed as she opened the door to the backseat for Taco and tied the leash to the headrest and plugged the other end into the seatbelt buckle.

Of course she would get the Q7. That was just her luck when she thought maybe picking an Audi would have less chance on drawing a luxury car that would look out of place in a small town like Montesano. The other fobs were all of luxurious brands and it wasn't like he had a whole garage o SUVs, she was hoping for an ordinary sedan of any kind.

"You finally saved up enough?" Ray whistled when he saw the black SUV turning into his driveway and her daughter getting out.

"This isn't my dream car, you know that I'm aiming for a Lamborghini, right?"

"I thought it's a Maserati or Alfa Romeo that you have your eyes on," he teased but didn't get to have the last laugh when the back door was opened and the dog unleashed.

"Meet Taco," Anastasia introduced lazily as she tidied up the car and locking it up. "My Christmas gift last year. He's two already."

"Isn't he cute?" Ray put down the dog and made a fuss of him, scratching the back of his ear. "Reminds me of those military dogs. His size," Ray whistled. "Come on, get in the house before we freeze. Your mom is cooking."

"That's Christian's car," she walked by her father with Taco's leash folded in her hand. "I took a random key fob out of the entire basket full of them just to appease him. Bless my luck, I got something so out of place. I was going for one of his less luxurious ones, but didn't have any luck."

"What do you mean appease him? I thought you said you are spending the holidays with him."

"I am sorry to intrude on you and mom's intimate setting," Anastasia rolled her eyes sardonically. "Christian is away on business and he doesn't know that I'm coming back."

"Are you two not talking?" Ray immediately sniffed out the implied message.

"I took his car instead of the bus just like he wished, what do you mean we aren't talking?" Anastasia didn't understand herself why Christian wasn't talking to her, much less try to explain it to her father without making him think ill of the man.

"Why didn't he just buy you one?" Ray joked.

"Have you seen his garage, Dad? I won't get to drive every single vehicle he owned in my entire life, and here you're wondering why he didn't buy one for me? Audi literally send models to him for test drives each year, and if he likes it, he can just have that season's newest."

"What are you two arguing about?" Carla sauntered out from the kitchen to catch her daughter giving the old man an incredulous look and the old man returning with a smug smirk that Carla was all too familiar with.

"We are not arguing," Anastasia defended, coming to give her mother a hug.

"We are just talking about Christian," Ray supplied deviously.

"Oh, yes! Why isn't he here?" Carla questioned, and Anastasia groaned instantly. Her parents loved and adored Christian almost as much as a son-in-law. They weren't really accepting the fact that the couple had broken up and decided to just be friends.

Anastasia sighed and tried her best to divert her mother's attention. Ray sat by the side thoroughly entertained.

…

FEBRUARY 2015

"How did you spend it? Did your neighbor stop by?"

"I think he's switching tactics."

"Do you have a picture?"

"You won't forget, won't you? You just have to keep reminding me of it."

"You still don't have his number, might I remind you again."

"Kate! That's because I am not interested. I don't want to lead this poor guy on only to have him distrust women in general in the future."

"Still, woman up! Act like some experienced wanton that you are for once."

Anastasia face palmed with a groan.

"You've got the full package. And, you know how to get a guy, so go for it. It is the guy's problem for falling for your charms. You shouldn't be thinking about the consequences for him."

"Only you would regret not taking a step further with some all-too-willing male."

"Oh, it's called seizing the day, Ana. You will have to learn that the more experience you have the more you will understand what you truly want."

"Really?" Anastasia pursed her lips together, sporting a look of disbelieve.

"You don't believe me."

"Of course I don't. Look at you, do you know what you are looking for now? After all those _experiences_ you have?"

"I have an inkling idea, yes. I am venturing into a new venue at the moment." Kate winked cryptically. "I am _exploring_."

"Kate," Anastasia warned, "what are you up to?"

"I will tell you once you're back for your things," Kate told her. Anastasia had decided to stay another year, mostly prompted by Taylor's news of Christian's new companion. At least until the end of this year before pausing her research. She was given a week to gather her items from Baltimore and hand-over her duties in the hospital before returning to Copenhagen.

Anastasia still had her suspicious but never dared question Kate. She didn't even know in which direction she should think toward.

"Okay, whatever, I will just let my imagination run wild for a bit when I can't concentrate on my paper."

"Don't turn it into a research paper full of sexual innuendoes, Steele."

"Get your head out of the gutter, Kate!" Anastasia snapped and then giggled thinking about it happening. "I'll see you next month?" Kate confirmed, and they bid farewell.

…

Anastasia, like other scientists with no life outside of the lab spent what was supposed to be the most romantic day in the lab playing and burning magnesium strips like fireworks and snapping photos with the bright light as if they were ancient. They were obviously breaking a lot of laboratory rules but they chose the most deserted empty lab in an empty building, all wearing protection and other safety equipment.

It was a fun day, until she got back with Adam so she could change and they would head to the pub nearby only to bump into Frederik. The medical student insisted on joining the doctors. After sharing an amused glance with Adam, Anastasia agreed lightheartedly. She wanted to giggle at the young kid, but she needed to remain calm and collected so she could have stories for Kate later.

She hadn't been thinking about Christian since she returned his SUV, and was still glad that she took an Audi instead of some even fancier car since she had been the talk of the neighborhood that holiday in December. Her with her gigantic dog and the very luxurious shiny car.

Her parents gave up grilling her about Christian when she insisted that they were doing fine and he was simply busy on a business trip.

Then the events in the lab with a bunch of lifeless single persons were the best distraction she could ask for. It also helped that Kate was also a single-lady that wasn't looking for a relationship, which meant they could have heaps to talk about.

…

Nothing eventful happened to Christian either, he had sent his sub back to her home to spend the holidays with her family and subsequently terminated their contract. Hearing the voice of Anastasia jolted him back, and he returned to his conflicted self. He believed that it was disappointment he had heard in her tone last December, but he was too much of a pussy to pick up his phone and send her a simple message such as Merry Christmas or Happy New Year.

The eery silence from Elena was also worrisome, but he had been able to put her and her schemes out of his mind and focus on work.

By focusing on the growth of GEH and put his concentration solely on crafting his empire, he felt confident that he could achieve his goal in the next two years, and he had already set his eyes on his billion-dollar project, and it was the shipyard that he'd set his eyes on in Baltimore.

That security breach turned out to be a one-time thing, because after Ros's visit, they got to know more about the company. It was originally established in New York's Long Island, but they moved the headquarters away and only left the factories because they personally liked the state Maryland better, so moved to Baltimore. They were actually a prestigious company that mainly dealt with oversea businesses, which was why they didn't seem too well-known. They didn't campaign in the domestic market.

Christian was obviously over the moon when he heard about it and was already laying out plans toward finally acquiring it. That became his billion-dollar project.

…

MARCH 2015

The party was moved to the end of March instead of April for reasons unknown to anyone other than the planners. Kate was due to leave some time on this day, and Anastasia couldn't be happier to see her best friend again in person after so long apart.

"Hey Kate," she answered her phone, it was a video chat which was odd. "Are you at the airport?" She inquired when she heard the noises in the background and the slightly delayed signal transmission.

"I am, and I just want to call to make sure that I'm not replaced as your plus one," the blonde friend said, her eyes darting between the screen and the information board about her flight.

"I can't wait, but if you're leaving today, then you'll be here tomorrow though. Like late afternoon."

"I know, it's a little bit short on the time but at least I am in time for your ball or whatever you call it."

"Okay," Anastasia conceded, she wondered why Kate was rarely looking at the phone, and she had a weird smile on her face.

"Oh, and Ana?" Kate smirked just when Anastasia heard soft knocking on her door. "I have a surprise for you."

"Okay, wait, I think someone's at the door," Anastasia placed her phone down onto the kitchen counter and made her way to the door.

She couldn't believe her eyes when she saw who was behind it when she peaked through the cat eye.

She swung the door open and jumped into the man's arms before he had a chance to step inside.

"Oh my god!" She squealed. When she rushed inside to tell Kate the news, she found out that Kate had already hang up on her.

Then, something clicked.

"Are you Kate's surprise for me?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	18. Nothing In The House

_**Nothing in the House**_

"I'm sorry," Anastasia took a step back and rounded the table so there was a dining table in between them. "I got too excited and forgot that you are in a relationship," she said as neutrally as she could muster. "I must've taken you by surprise."

"Correction, Anastasia. I am no longer in a _relationship_. I am not contracted to anyone. And, yes, you have taken me by surprise, but don't apologize for it. I am both nervous and excited to see you, as well."

"Okay, I just wasn't sure how I should greet you," with the initial excitement wearing off, the awkwardness now settled in the atmosphere; at least to her. "After so long…" she trailed off, still maintaining the distance.

To him, she was a table too far.

He had never seen her scramble out of his embrace so quickly and let go of him so fast.

"How are you?" She settled on asking when Christian had no intention of addressing her earlier stuttering.

"I'm good," he humored her when in his mind he was debating whether he should approach her like a hunter to his prey; or should he stalk up to her in Christian Grey style. "Better now that I've seen you," he took a step forward in her general direction, and she took a step back. It backed herself against the kitchen counter with the table trapping her in front of her. He scowled at her reaction and she frowned at his words.

"Have you been talking to Kate?" She continued to question.

He was confused, still hadn't recovered from the rush of adrenaline from seeing her.

Here he was, standing in the middle of her apartment on the other side of the world staring at her intently and heatedly as if they were old friends. He hadn't made any kind of effort to reestablish any sort of communication after hearing her voice accidentally last December. Now, he showed up unannounced. Of course she was confused.

Then he thought she would be just as happy and relieved to see him but she clambered off of him before he could even feel the warmth of her body against his. And now, she was putting him under heavy inquisition. He thought her feelings for him hadn't changed. At least, that was what Kate told him. She assured him that Anastasia would be more than thrilled to see him, but when the door opened, the delightfulness didn't even last half a minute.

"Yes, we have been talking," he admitted. "She told me about this event. And, I thought it's a good idea to surprise you."

"Well, it would be a better idea to contact me beforehand, you know."

"True," he nodded, accepting the admonishment. His excitement was suddenly diminished by the cool attitude and reaction.

What was he expecting from her after practically ignoring for months no end.

"Tell me," Christian was reminded of a conversation he had with Kate all of a sudden now that the initial enthusiasm was rejected. "Did my mother corner you at the award ceremony in DC?"

"She…" Anastasia swallowed nervously. "Approached me, and was concerned… about the expedition that I was sent on… this… mission to Copenhagen."

"Don't downplay it, Anastasia. Tell me word for word."

She appeared apprehensive at that request. "It has been months. It was last year, really it's okay."

"No, it's not when Elena has been whispering in my parents' ears and planting ideas in their heads."

She gasped. At first, she thought he might question the boy next door. If he had seen Frederik, the Danish boy would definitely linger and inquire his identity simply being his annoying self and expressing an interest in her.

"I think I should tell you that Elena is currently blackmailing me."

"Whatever for?" Anastasia cried out incredulously. This was not the kind of discussion she had anticipated on having two days before the ball, especially not with him in person.

"To control me. She told me to go back to the lifestyle."

"So you did," she couldn't trust her ears at what she was hearing. "You just gave up, just like that?"

"I need to make her believe that she is still in control until I get ahold of the blackmail materials."

"Blackmail materials," she chewed the words over her tongue. "So, you know what she's got on you?"

"Yes, after meeting with her in August."

"Can you take legal actions against her?"

"We don't have enough evidence. Even when I have the recording and video footage of her admitting that she was behind the scandal, whispering to my parents and purposefully allowing my security team to hack into their phones so they can be caught staging this whole thing."

"Why?"

"It's not enough to put her away."

"So, she spread all those rumors about you not to get your attention about the salons?"

"No, she wants me to lose everything I've ever built or willingly let her take over."

"She's like a parasite."

He chuckled darkly and humorlessly in agreement with her description.

"Can I help?" She offered compassionately.

"Staying out of it and staying away from me is probably the most helpful."

"Christian…"

"You can't be affected by this. It will ruin your life. She is still half convinced that I am attached to you emotionally, which I am. But I can't let her know that. I told her we are only making public appearances to build my public profile."

"She has a stronger and brighter public image than you, currently."

"Yes, which is why she can sway public opinion so easily. She is now convincing my family that you are no good for me. Just bad mouthing you in general. She has successfully brainwashed my mother, my father has reservations, but my siblings don't believe a word she is saying."

"Do they know about you and Elena?"

"No! No, no. They can't and they won't know about it."

"Christian…"

"Don't! Taylor has already suggested it, and I won't disappoint them any further. Given that they actually believe me over Elena, this revelation is going to utterly kill them."

"But don't you think they can help you if they know the truth?"

"They might not even believe me."

"Is that what you believe personally, or what Elena makes you believe?"

"Of course I believe it! I never was an easy kid to raise, I've disappointed them enough by getting into trouble and dropping out."

"They will support you."

"They haven't when I decided to drop out."

"Perhaps Elena has infiltrated their mind then."

He shook his head, confused himself.

"Find, I will stay away," Anastasia declared, after all, she was planning on researching for another year at least. "I will stay out of your life and stay away from you. You tell them whatever you want and I will avoid everything related to you," she announced. "But, I will still honor my part of the deal. We will just have to forget about the rekindling part."

"Just until I resolve the Elena issue, please?" He beseeched.

Anastasia didn't respond.

"I am doing well, my business is flourishing. I can reach my goal faster than planned, and we can still stick with our agreement. I just need to put her behind bars somehow. She is currently in Paris and I am having her house searched as we speak."

"So, you're only here to tell me about all this? Closure?"

"No, I am here for your party."

"You are?" Anastasia was too eager to shift the topic away from the somber subject of the mess back in the States.

"Yes, I told Kate that I'd be here."

"What about that façade you're trying to put up for Elena?"

"I am not in the US, there is no one here that recognizes me."

"There is, quite a lot, actually," she revealed and Christian paled. "I work for Northwest Hospital, and we collaborate and exchange with the main site in Seattle frequently. Everyone from the West Coast here has heard about you more or less from the mouths of the Seattle staff, and I believe there are even a few that you are personally acquainted with."

"Fuck," he suddenly realized how stupid his idea had been.

"People talk, and I am sure Northwest Hospital's doctors are all more or less acquainted with their generous donors. You are a big contributor to Airlift Northwest if I remembered correctly. Words and pictures will get to Elena."

"I can tell her that this is a part of our agreement."

"That is a very weak argument. There is no reason for you to be here because this isn't some major social event covered by the press. It is only a social gathering to actually let everyone get to know each other or say goodbye."

They stood there in stark silence. None of them were breathing but their eyes never left each other. Anastasia was slightly aware of her exaggeration of how many people actually knew him but she just didn't want to risk anything, she just wanted to protect him.

A blur of brown and white fur flew across the living room and headed straight for Christian. It was until its front paws were on Christian's lower chest did Anastasia realize that her dog took ages to be notified that some other people were in the apartment. Usually, he was alarmed the moment someone knocked on the door just like in Baltimore.

"Taco!" Christian was instantly taken by the dog that he hadn't seen in a year. To him, this dog was no longer the size of the puppy that he brought home two years ago. Taco obviously remembered him and was very affectionate with him, clearly missing him as much as his owner.

When Christian was busy getting reacquainted with Taco, Anastasia went into the only other room other than the bathroom to find that her pillow had been taken from her bed and dragged onto the floor. It was no wonder Taco didn't make his presence known when Christian entered.

"I'm sorry, I never offered you anything to drink," she returned to the common space and saw the Christian had taken the only empty seat around the dining table with Taco at his feet. She just remembered that she was technically his host and he, her guest.

Anastasia made an effort to store away a few pieces of clothing scattered and draped over chairs. Her apartment wasn't the neatest but she could definitely d o better with a guest in the room.

"Do you want any drinks? Tea? Water? Wine? I'm sorry, I don't have any beer."

"We are hardly strangers," he muttered lightly thought his focus was on Taco, who had its head leaned in his palm enjoying the ear massage.

"You haven't talked to me in months and you know what I'm up to because of Kate, who by the way never told me that she's talking to you. Forgive me if I feel like we've distanced."

Her speech sent an ice-cold chill down his spine. His eyes followed her watching her pick up his coat from the back of the small couch and hang it behind the door. Something oddly domestic now seemed awkward for him to witness.

"Here, you can drink water since you don't like tea." She placed a glass of warm water in front of him on the table and stood on the other side of it.

"Thank you," he took a sip from it, his gaze still averting hers but he could feel her intense ones on him.

"Tell me this then, Christian," she appeared thoughtful as if she was trying to make sense of something in her mind. "Would you ever contact me again, if Kate never reached out to you?"

He lowered his head and fixed his shameful gaze on Taco as he pondered the question. His hand smoothing over the head of the furry animal.

"I don't think you would," she voiced her opinion after a few moments of silence.

"I would," his head whipped up and interjected quickly before she could continue. "I would after Elena is gone. I plan on reestablishing any sort of communication with you after getting rid of her."

Anastasia still appeared unconvinced and unsure of what to believe, so she changed the subject again after pouring herself a cup of tea and sitting on the counter top.

"Do you need anything? Are you hungry? You must be tired from all of the travelling."

"I do need something from you," the confidence in his voice surprised her. "I need a proper hug from you." She raised her eyebrows at him, and he thought she was going to reject him with the inquisitive way she was staring at him. He held his breath, willing and pleading her to consider it with his eyes when they met. He hoped that she had understood the message.

"A hug?"

"Yes, that's how friends great each other. Usually," he added.

"Friends? Are we friends?"

"Look, I'm sorry that I have neglected you. I was confused and thrown off balance I don't know how to cope, so I shut everyone out."

She stared at him, seriously contemplating his innocent request.

"A friendship doesn't have to end even if they don't contact each other for months. They can still be friends whey they meet so they can catch up."

He rambled on, trying his hardest to convince her to come closer to him willingly. He had been too busy at coming up with reasons to persuade her to notice that she had made up her mind long ago.

She hopped off of the counter, placed the mug on the counter and rounded the table. His eyes widened in slight disbelieve when he saw her approaching.

"So, you're an expert now?"

Anastasia extended her arms and he smiled at the gesture, welcoming her into his own open arms. He leaned forward and laid his head on her chest as if it was the most natural thing.

"You haven't answered me," she giggled, resting her chin on top of his head and laced her fingers at the nape of his neck, her thumb toying with the soft hair. Taco settled at their feet in between them, getting the message that the had been promptly ignored.

"What?" He mumbled lazily. "No, Anastasia. I am not an expert. That's just me bullshitting," he replied with mirth.

"where are you staying?" Her voice softened, it was as if everything automatically returned to normal the moment they embraced.

"At a hotel, Taylor's already there. It's a few blocks away," he answered, still not letting her go.

"You brought Taylor here? Does that man ever gets a vacation?"

"Well, he did have a splendid time in Asia with Gail," he shrugged his shoulders.

"Him and Gail?" Anastasia gasped. "Wow, that was fast! I didn't see it coming. When did that happen?"

"I caught them smooching," he smirked as he revealed the gossip. Lifting his eyes, he looked for her reaction through his lashes.

"Oh my god," she giggled louder. Twisting her body and with her arms still around him, she settled in his lap, her legs perched up on the table.

"You're fishing for a story," he grinned. He knew this was her way of getting comfortable so she could listen to gossips. "You have no idea what I've witnessed. I don't think I will ever look at the laundry room quite the same."

"You never go to the laundry room," she jibed.

"True that, but that's only the first time they were caught."

"Oh… this is getting interesting," she grinned, her curious gaze now reflecting light shone from the kitchen ceiling.

"Taylor's got some moves, you know?"

"Have you been watching them like a damn voyeur?"

"No!" He gasped at her audacity to insinuate such thing though it was amusing. "I just arrived at the right time. I would never watch people make out like some hawk."

"Oh, god! Do I want to hear about the details? When did laundry room happen?"

"That happened a long time ago, and they were just kissing while they waited for the washing machine to finish up."

"So, there's a more heated version?"

"That is what's happening in Asia," he nodded in confirmation.

"I was going to ask you about how you feel about being a third-wheel, but I don't think you were all that bothered."

"I am… uncomfortable in the presence of another couple," he said diplomatically, recalling that he did have a submissive to company him when he demanded company.

"Oh, really," she chuckled disbelievingly. "I don't think so. You always isolate yourself. I don't see how they are in your way. But, how long has that been going on?"

"Trust me when I said I've seen and heard more than enough in Taiwan when we stayed at a two bedroom suite. Unfortunately, that's the only one Andrea can get in that hotel."

Anastasia laughed, imagining the scenario Christian was alluding to in not so much detail.

"But when?"

"I think they just let their guards down since we started dating."

"So, you think it's been going on for years now?"

"I only hired them for four years up to this point, so if it really happened for years, then it must've been love at first sight. I never asked, but it seemed like it's been going on for a long time now. At least they had been discrete before we met. Now it's like full blown in my face, showing off each chance they get."

"Were they like that in Taiwan all the time?" She giggled. "You gave them the holidays off?" He nodded, "that's so sweet of you."

"It's good that Andrea has been able to get single suites in other places in Asia."

"They certainly hadn't been hiding," she snickered making her nose wrinkle and her brows knitted closely.

"Nope, not even being discrete about it. I guess that is partially your fault," he tapped her nose lightly,

"Me? Why?"

"You let them believed that it's okay to relax when they're off duty and be informal around me."

"Yeah…" she scrunched up her nose, forming wrinkles in all the right places to make her look even cuter and more adorable than he remembered.

"Now they seemed to have forgotten the kind of person that I am. I only let it slide because I was always distracted by you to even pay attention to their existence in the room."

"Oh, I see your logic," she poked his chest sending accusing glares his way. "Everything happened because of me. Well, tell you what?" She crossed her arms in front of her, pouted her lips and turned her head away from him like a petulant child. "You are officially uninvited to the party."

…

Taylor sat in his hotel room, which was right next to Christian's. His phone and computer both fired up on the desk before him. If all went well with the doctor, he knew his boss would be staying really late, and if he was lucky, he might end up staying the night.

The computer was displaying the live feed from the drone hovering around the Lincoln residence. According to the calendar, Elena should've already been in Paris for a week now.

What was keeping him on his toes was not the possibility of the European tail they had on Elena getting bribed and revealing everything, because they had already fed the shadow a fake story convincing enough for Elena to believe that the background of said tail was not associated to Grey.

The fact that Elena had been too quiet was the most disconcerting.

His phone and computer pinged simultaneously for an incoming email. It was from Barney, he had been tasked to hack into the pimp's medical record without leaving bread crumbs allover a few weeks ago.

"About time," Taylor grumbled under his breath. It really bothered him that Grey put it as a side project and not a priority.

Like Elena, Grey thought he knew her just as well.

_Well, it's time they surprise the hell out of each other._ Taylor grunted in his mind, his facial expression remaining neutral.

The email contained an encrypted file that Taylor had to dial Barney for instructions on how to decrypt it. Then he connected Welch after gathering the information they were looking for in the file.

"There are no cameras, surprisingly for such a large estate," Welch said. He was now at the Lincoln residence with a few of his men—all buddies who served with him, now retired and living off of military pension. A lonely life, per se.

"That's just a regular house. As much as Lincoln liked to pretend, she's not even nearly as rich as Grey." Taylor grumbled. When Christian told him that he wanted Elena's house searched, he knew that Grey was sparing no expenses on this shot. It would cost him more than the initial budget he granted if they wanted the search to be detailed and the most secretive and discrete. When Taylor warned him of the potential expenditure for the equipment and hired help, Grey had granted them without too much thought.

Clearly he had been too confident.

"We're going in," Welch announced after confirming and double checking that there wasn't ay kind of surveillance in the house or around.

"Does she have any live in staff?" Taylor asked just to be extra cautious.

"She's just an average socialite, there's nothing appealing about her that she doesn't even need a bodyguard." Welch all but scoffed but his voice had lowered considerably indicating that he was very near the entrance.

His mind went back to the document currently drawn up on his phone. The medical record held nothing too outstanding. His history shown nothing different from a stereotypical man living in destitution and surviving on pimping to afford the drugs and alcohol. Just someone whose body gave in and collapsed a few weeks back.

There was no evidence that he had fathered any child other than one, but no doubt he had actually fathered too many to count.

There were features that Taylor couldn't deny that resembled Christian's, but he couldn't be absolutely certain until a DNA test had been administered. However, Christian refused to establish any sort of association with the man. He was afraid and fearful of the DNA test outcome, especially after he had identified the man as the faceless attacker haunting him in his nightmares. It was understandable, but Taylor still thought it was best if an DNA test was done.

And, he would insisted on it if it wasn't for Grey's weak psychology. His therapist had warned Taylor before that his mental stability could be easily destroyed if the correct buttons were pressed. The trauma that he had endured from his childhood through to his adult life had been detrimental to his mind which made his mental state very fragile and it would take years even up to decades to restore its strength.

He had never experienced normalcy.

And now, the pimp was on life support. A fact that was purposefully neglected in recent news.

…

The security measure for the Lincoln residence was out of the world rubbish for a wannabe social butterfly. It didn't take much effort for Welch and his buddy to successfully pick the locks of the front door and his other two men went to the garage.

On the outside, the house appeared like any ordinary home for a family with a decent earning and some fortune in the saving.

In the inside, the elegant and detailed decor was a huge giveaway of the personality of the owner. Everything screamed exorbitant luxury, just like the way Elena dressed and presented herself in public.

She was living in the bubble and belief that she could be some kind of royalty if she had secured Grey as her own personal ATM. She was aspiring to become the Kim Kardashian in Seattle, or Washington and maybe the West Coast if she wanted to bigger, by releasing her very extensive porn and substantially ruining the flourishing career of her late husband.

The two men scoffed that the vanity this house presented. They scouted every room and every corner, making sure not to leave any trace behind or touch any furniture until they reached the home office.

There was nothing out of the ordinary upon first glance at the study. It was tidy and neat—nothing out of place. Not even a corner of a page in the stack on the desk. The computer was turned off with a piece of cloth draping over it to shield it from collecting dust. It was certainly a very smart move for such a valuable possession.

Then, they inspected he desk, drawers and book shelves. Nothing stood out. Taking a picture of the current arrangement, Welch pulled off the fabric and powered on the computer operating using his glove covered fingers. He did a quick sweep of the entire storage, both local and online.

They needn't worry about whether Elena would find out people using her electricity while she was away because they had already located several decorations that required constant electric power.

Meanwhile, his friend spied a camera sitting alone at the very bottom of the book shelf, hidden from the magazines if looked down from above. Luckily, he spotted the out of ordinary placement when he was getting up from crouching on the floor. The location of the camera certainly drew suspicions.

The storage card was still in tact and it was presented to Welch who quickly accessed it on the computer.

When the content unveiled itself, both men gasped in unison.

Without having to be told, Welch made a copy of the entire memory card and transferred it to his phone. It would have to stay there, for now.

…

In the meantime, the other team were merely restoring the items in the garage as they found them when they broke in. Shaking their head in sheer disappointment as they made their way back to the van to report to Taylor.

Not several minutes later, Welch and his buddy appeared. Locking the front door up as if they were the owners before walking across the street and down the block where the van was parked.

…

"Are you tired?" Anastasia asked lazily after they just shared a meal they cooked together.

"What time is it?" Christian yawned. He usually wouldn't even register the feeling of being jet-lagged when he could force his body to stay awake with the help of caffeine, but it probably was because he was relaxed in the presence of her that he could feel the effect of the huge time difference.

"Just after three, we've been staring at each other in silence for way too long," she giggled recalling that they had sat down for the home-cooked meal around two since they spent ages preparing and making the food just enjoying each other's intimate company.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" He asked, and Taco's ears instantly perked up, and when both pairs of eyes turned to him, he jumped up into a sitting position and his eyes darting from the couple to the door. "I didn't ask you," Christian laughed, ruffling his head affectionately.

"Go get your leash and collar, Taco," Anastasia instructed, and usually the dog would just tilt his head in the most adorable manner, wag his tail and stare back at her but today, he surprised her.

"I'm not tired. We can go for a walk. Taco's seems eager," Christian looked at her expectantly, knowing she wouldn't turn Taco down if he successfully bought his outing gears back.

"Okay then, but I think you should take a nap when we get back before dinner. You look like you haven't slept in years."

_You have no idea._ He thought to himself, shaking his head as he stood up, taking the offered coat from her and tying his boots.

"It's already refreshing to see Taco reacts to my order. He usually only go off sitting next to his leash when I pretend like I'm looking for it."

"I think he actually knows what you're asking him to do but just aren't bothered. He's probably thinking how lazy you are, or how stupid that instruction is. It's not like he can put it on himself in the end anyway."

"Someone's sassy lately," Anastasia teased mirthfully, her own giggles escaping her mouth.

Christian took the leash from her hands and reached for her hand with the other on instinct. To his surprise, she didn't make him search for long, because she grabbed it once she caught up with him from holding the unit door for another tenant as if it was the most natural gesture between them.

The simple act warmed his cooling heart, and it softened again. The part that belonged to her no longer laid dormant, and it was as if her touch had reignited the flames between them.

Seemed like he wasn't the only one that felt the familiar current passing through their intertwined hands.

She peered at him through her thick lashes coyly with a bashful smile that he rarely see and they shared a knowing gaze when their eyes met. He tucked their hands into his giant coat pocket, and she simply snuggled closer and hugged onto his side tighter.

A content smile never disappeared from his face as they took the longest stroll they had ever went on.

…

Taylor sat in his hotel room wondering if his boss would be calling any time soon to inform him of his plans. It was more likely than not that he would be staying at her home.

For the first time in the four years that he'd worked for this young ambitious man, he was fearful of his return.

He had long ended the call with Barney and received live reports from the crew. Their rewards had been wired to their account already and all evidence of any transactions were erased other than the recording of the conversation in his phone and the album in now transferred from Welch's.

The search had been an utter failure to say the least, and he knew that the moment Barney concluded with the words  
"We've found nothing that we're looking for."

And now, all Taylor could do was stare at the blacked out feed from the drone on his computer and drum his fingers against the polished wooden desk praying that Grey was having too good of a time that he had forgotten about all the troubles looming over his head, and forget about him, the head of security.

Because, the result-less search was only the tip of the iceberg, it should be the last thing that worried Christian.

The life support of the pimp was supposed to be pulled as soon as the adoption of his only teenage child on record completes.

And, that was estimated to be in late May or early June. If he even survived that long in the first place.

Not only that, the person adopting this kid made Taylor regret ever going into private security, and meeting Grey.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	19. Fall Out

_**Fall Out**_

"How's Sawyer?" Anastasia turned to her side mimicking his posture so they were now facing each other.

It was a strange yet oddly ordinary situation that they were in bed together—fully clothed but sharing the same bed for the night. Their relationship was somewhat… delicate to say the least.

"You're asking about another man when you're in bed with one?" Christian arched a perfect brow teasing her half seriously.

She giggled, reaching over performing an act of punching him in slow motion, he raised his hand and intercepted it, startling her.

"I didn't know your hand would be flying out so defensively," she gasped and then giggled, but stopped when she saw that he was sporting a stern mien. "What? Did I do something wrong?" She frowned when he shook his head, still appearing like he was listening to something intently and slightly alarmed. "Then what?"

"What's that?" He said quietly.

"What's what? Probably just Taco stealing our stuff from around the apartment. He always does that when he's bored and wants attention."

"No, I mean people talking outside of your door."

"Then that's probably Frederik," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"Who?"

"My neighbor," she explained. "Wait, is he not alone?" She suddenly had a glint of mischief in her eyes. "Oh, he didn't tell me that his socially awkward ass finally got laid."

"Tell you? He? Are you two close?" His eyebrows were now tightly knitted together.

"Relax, Christian; he's nineteen. He's just a kid. See? We're now talking about some other man. I think you should be more worried about Sawyer and me if you're trying to be some paranoid freak."

His scowl deepened and she laughed, trying to pull her fist back only for him to hold it tighter.

"Why are you so interested in the life of other men?"

"Can't a single lady be curious? I mean you've been with a submissive for crying out loud."

"Fair enough," he sighed dejectedly. "Sawyer is doing well, already starting some light training. Now, tell me about this Frederik kid."

…

"You know, it's already weird that you're sharing the be with your ex-boyfriend especially it was you that invited him to stay the night. Then," he held up a finger silencing her. "The first question that came out of your mouth after pretending to be asleep but was actually wide awake for the past hour under said ex's gaze, was the health and well-being of another man, one whom you've worked closely with for a period of time. When that topic wasn't even ended, another mysterious young male came into the frame. How does that description look on your profile, Anastasia?"

"Did you have too much caffeine this morning?"

"I'm not finished," he ignored her quizzical and utterly dumbfounded look and resumed his monologue in his comical narration while he prepared brunch with her. "When you finally snapped out of your day dream about the boy next door and wiped that drool and stupid grin off of your face, Taco trotted into the room because you haven't take him out. He not only whined about being grounded but also jumped onto our bed, and you have the decency to ask me if he had been to dog school when you can't even haul him off of the furniture. Now, tell me, is that the result of him forgetting all his training or the result of you spoiling him for the past two years when I wasn't present?"

"Are you high or something? Are you sure you're okay?" She dropped the oven mittens on the counter and stared at him intently. He stared right back, the dish towel still in his hand.

"My therapist told me, no _suggested_ that I vent. It's good preparation for a fresh day."

She narrowed her eyes at him, clearly not buying a word he had just spoken. "Christian…?"

"Okay, full disclosure, I'm just really happy that you're all mine today." He grinned boyishly and crookedly, successfully and totally making her swoon.

"Is this because I won't let you go to the ball with me?"

"We've been through this, no one cared about why I'm here when we met them on our way back with Taco. That fake conference lie is enough to put their curiosity at bay. Elena won't know."

"You never know. You can't be too careful with some one so… resourceful for the lack of a better word in the community. When people talk to her, they're obviously not going to say that outright, 'oh, I saw Christian with Anastasia in Denmark' or mention seeing us together on purpose, but what if they had accidentally let it slipped?"

"She's too preoccupied with whatever she's up to, and I'm optimistic about the search that my team has conducted. I mean, sure she's manipulative, but she keeps everything in her office and the dungeon."

"Christian, don't underestimate your enemy," she warned.

"I'm not, Anastasia. I know her pretty well to be quite certain that we're going to find everything we need. She isn't going to suspect that I sent people to search her house, because she's going to think I won't be willing to spend that much money."

"But you need to keep up with that image you've built and that lie you've made her believe. She nearly bought your lie about the nature of our relationship, so keep acting on it so she could believe it completely. Don't let your effort go to waste for one night's entertainment."

"She's always going to be a tad bit skeptical because I have gone back to the lifestyle too soon that it had raised some suspicion."

"Then act like you've enjoyed it and missed and sincerely wants to go back to it. Contract another sub! Or, just call your previous one back or something."

"The sub that I contracted was already collared," he admitted and knew that he had once explained the lifestyle in-depth enough for her to understand the terms.

"You were with a collared sub? What happened to monogamy?"

"It prevents either of us from getting attached emotionally, and it was short-term. Besides, it's not like I can think about fucking another woman after hearing your voice that day."

"Won't Elena know, though? That you've been with a collared sub? Won't she suspect that you're not committed enough?"

"She'll understand once I make up some bullshit excuse about how I am only looking for something short-term because I don't want all the potential drama that are associated with feelings and emotions. She'll understand."

"That makes sense. I mean, after all, she is that one that taught you how to dismiss love."

"Love is for fools," he chuckled bitterly and darkly, mimicking her high-pitched voice.

"Do you still believe that?"

"Not after I met you. No. I did for a while, but I wasn't looking for love back then."

"You weren't looking for that with me, either," she recalled.

"You're wrong—I was. I only approached you with that proposition because I didn't know how to process what I was feeling."

She mutely and robotically bent down to reach for the items in the over after the timer sounded.

"I think I know now, though."

She could only stare at him after placing the freshly baked food onto the table in a plate.

"Do you want more coffee?" And there, the subject was effectively altered and Christian knew it was her way of telling him to shut up.

"Yes, please," he handed the mug to her and held back a defeated sigh.

"I'm staying for another year," she announced out of the blue. For some reason, she still subconsciously wanted to keep him in the loop even though he had somewhat kicked her out of his life.

"You are?"

"At least until December or just the end of the current experiment. I have to finish the report."

"Are you going to publish anything?"

"If I have any discovery, yes, I will. Gets me money."

"Patents get you more earnings," he reminded teasingly.

"I am trying to develop something to get it patented, so I am working in that direction, but I haven't find the right team and mentor yet. There is no way I could've done it myself. I don't even know where to start." Anastasia talked animatedly, evidently enjoying this topic of discussion. "But, yes, a patent sounds like a good way to get rich," she joked with her sweet giggles that he wished he could record and listen to whenever he missed her.

"And there I thought I could take you back with me," he teased with mirth.

"I am going back to the States briefly. I need to settle a few things back in Baltimore before spending another year away."

"When are you planning on returning?"

"Right after the ball," she answered wondering where this would go.

"I can take you back on my jet," he told her, or more like offered, as expected. "I'm going to New York."

"Oh!" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I am expanding my office space there and hiring more people. Ros has been doing that but she is now more focused on the shipyard in Maryland and other businesses on the West Coast."

"I guess I can go to New York and surprise Kate first," she shrugged already producing a mental image of her traveling route. "Then I will return to Baltimore and get my investments sorted so I don't have to worry about it when I'm gone." She rattled off the list of things that she needed to do and he couldn't help but wonder if he could help with any of it to save he the troubles, but he digress quickly before he blurted it out.

…

"Son, are you doing well in school?"

"Yes, but I want to go to your house. It's so spacious there and this place is so cramped."

"I know, darling. When I return from Paris, I will speed up the process and you can move in sooner, okay?"

"Okay, when are you getting back?"

"Soon."

…

APRIL 2015

Taco barked violently and sprinted to the door from where he had been napping in the bedroom. The knock only startled him because instead of continuing to bark like Anastasia thought he would, he stopped and his tail started to wiggle wildly and he was jumping up and down excitedly looking at the door expectantly.

There was only one other person that could make him react so happily other than her.

Frowning, and confused, she made her way to the door, dropping her only travelling item on to the couch on the way. She was ready to head to the airport and buy a ticket to Baltimore there and wait for Kate to drive down like they planned to celebrate Easter.

"Hi," she greeted rather awkwardly, the door flew open almost off of the hinges as the dog sprinted out and rushed to greet his other owner before he could make sense of what Anastasia had said.

"Taco!" Christian laughed, gently setting his front paws back to the ground and made a fuss of it to keep it from hugging him again. "It's nice to see you again, too, buddy."

Anastasia had already disappeared from the door leaving it wide open welcoming his arrival. When Christian entered with Taco hot on his heels, there was no sight of her.

"I was on my way to the airport," she explained the carry-on bag on the couch as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Can we just write-off yesterday as an early April fools' joke?" He requested quietly, taking a seat at the dining table after pouring himself a glass of water from the tab like he had just returned home.

She halted her actions of packing up her bag and stared at him.

_They were heading down the path toward another pending fight. One that had been brewing and suppressed for too long, and this time, it was denoting._

_"If you're here to tell me once again that I can lean on you and just depend my life on you so we can be together, then let's just part ways here. You don't have to take me to the airport and I won't be using your jet any more. We can just end this platonic friendship here!"_

_"Ana, you're overreacting."_

_"Christian, picture this scenario. We date, and we work on our career. We have to balance work and our private life. You're stressed and I'm stressed, and we're constantly living thousands of miles apart. Eventually, you will find a way to convince me to go back to Seattle and live with you, and subsequently depend on you for life. Then, if we break up, you can just go off and find another rebound, but I can't. Why? Because you are financially independent. You have an estate. You aren't dependent on me other than having a broken heart, presumably."_

_"You won't rely on me entirely. You won't allow yourself to do that. If that really happens, you are still able to have an independent life. You didn't have to start over like you implied you would."_

_"You just want to say that I can go and find another willing sugar daddy like you like some fucking parasites!"_

_Christian stared at her wide-eyed and stunned not only by her outburst but by the hurtful words and its implications, too._

_"I'm sorry," she lowered her voice, "that was insensitive of me."_

_"You should go to your formal, party, or whatever you call it." Crestfallen didn't even begin to cover the hurt that he was feeling right now. Part of him knew that he shouldn't have pushed her to reconsider her reasons behind the deal they had._

_She sighed. She wanted to apologize again, but she knew that they would just be empty words falling on deaf ears._

_"I'll be gone by the time you come back. I just want to spend a little more time with Taco. I will keep him company when you're gone."_

_She could only nod at his announcement as she picked up her coat numbly and went for the door. She didn't even turn around to bid Taco farewell because she couldn't face him. She needed to clear her head first, and she knew she was being a bitch to him._

"I really am sorry. That was really callous of me."

"Stop apologizing, Ana. You have been forgiven. I could never hold a grudge against you or stay angry at you."

"Were you angry at me."

"At first yes, but on a bigger scale, no. Just… disappointed."

"I should've let you come to the party with me. They were expecting you, and I realized that there were only two doctors from Seattle, and only one socializes in the same circle as Elena. Adam doesn't gossip and he doesn't even work in the same hospital as your mom. I realized that Elena is only so famous in the community in a small area of Seattle and that you're actually more influential…"

"Ana, breath, baby." He walked toward her and stopped her rambling as he pulled her to his chest. "It's okay. I don't blame you. I understand that you're just trying to protect me and you're worried about me."

"Did they search the house yet?" She asked, pulling back slightly so she could see his face.

There was a seemingly unmendable rift now forming between them, but they both thought it was for the best so none addressed it.

"I haven't asked Taylor. I didn't really talk to him much, lately. I was communicating with Ros mainly."

She nodded mutely. "I hope they find everything."

"I hope so, too." He echoed, thought he was still very confident that this fiasco would be over very soon once he had the materials in his hand so he could fully confront Elena.

"When are we leaving?"

"We need to be at the tarmac at noon, the jet takes off just after twelve."

…

_Kate, are you free right now?_

Anastasia texted her friend immediately once the plane touched down in New York. She checked the time and noticed that it was just around lunch time, and she should be on lunch break by the time she got out of the airpot and into the city.

_Yes, started my lunch break early._

She received an instant reply.

_That's new._

She chuckled.

_Didn't have much to do_

_Good, because I just arrived_

Her phone rang before she could put her Europe SIM card away neatly into the small pocket in her purse.

"What do you mean you just arrived?" Kate demanded the moment it was connected.

"I'm at the jet hanger where Christian's car is waiting."

"So, you two got back together?" Kate lowered her voice as if Christian could hear them.

"No! We just flew to New York together. He's got an office here, so I just took the jet with him. It's not like Baltimore is so far from here."

"So, we're still going there for Easter?" Kate asked and she could hear the noises made by the gushes of wind Anastasia was experiencing on the tarmac at JFK and the loud engine of the gold-stream.

"Well, I can drive us to Baltimore and you can drive back, solved my commute problem."

"If you're really stuck, I'm sure Christian will solve your problems for you," Kate teased, not sensing Anastasia's discomfort at all. I hear you got into a car, so are you going to come meet me or wait for me at my apartment?"

"I don't have your keys, remember? Let's meet up for lunch. Christian has a meeting anyway."

"A meeting after he just touched down?"

"Do you have a meeting? Like really have one, Christian?" Anastasia turned to the man who was on the phone. Instead of answering, he shoved the phone in her hands and she read the conversation thread and was confirmed that he truly did have a meeting for showing up unannounced. "He does, since he surprised his staff here."

"Okay, well, tell them to drop you off at the New York Times building and I will be there."

"The headquarters right?"

"Yes, in Manhattan."

They hung up and Anastasia turned to look out the window and saw that they were still in the airport. Their car was following another car so they would not disrupt the order and drive out safely.

"Where are you going?" She asked Christian after getting her fill of the airport and the distancing hanger where the jet was currently settling in.

"My office. They said they're treating me to some fancy place for lunch."

"Where is your office?" He stowed his phone and looked up at her, his eyes dancing with mirth, and somehow she thought she had asked the wrong question.

"Manhattan. I can drop you off at Kate's work place and then head to my office."

"How do you know that's where I'm going?" She appeared dumbfounded and her question was even more of a no-brainer.

He smirked but didn't comment.

"Right," she looked away slightly embarrassed by her stupidity. "Where exactly is it? Your office."

"Upper East Side."

"Where all the rich people are?"

"Precisely."

"Can you even afford such an expensive office space?"

"It did make a dent in my fortune, but it's a good investment. I need to start at a place high enough that I probably don't need to worry about moving once it starts to make money and attract people."

"You are so sure of it, weren't you?"

"There are always risks in investments, Anastasia. It's just a matter of how well you managed the risks," he lectured.

She stared at him in awe. It always fascinated her when he was at work and in his element. He was so confident and certain of the steps that he was going to take and the goal he had in mind. In her opinion, he had demonstrated the importance of the need to build solid foundations before moving forward to lower the risks as much as possible.

The power that exuded from him was probably the reason why she believed that Frederik was not her type and that no one compared. She was going to hold Christian and his qualities as her benchmark until she could find someone that rivaled him; if, she wasn't going to end up with him. Everyone male she had encountered seemed to lack the dominant qualities that she was seeking for that was uniquely Christian's.

As long as Christian was in her life, she was going to feel like everyone else was inadequate.

…

"Oh, I cannot believe you said that to him. Don't act like some woman scorned, Ana. He has hurt you just as many time as you've hurt him. Albeit, none of you are intentionally trying to cause the other pain."

"Kate, you of all people should understand the importance of independence. You are a career woman!"

"But have you seen the way he looks at you, and the way he talks about you? If someone looks at me and talks about me like that, I would've sacrificed something for him. I would move to work in the same city as him."

"Yet, here you are trying to tie someone down by getting knocked up just so you can have your trust fund," Anastasia snorted. Kate laughed, almost spitting out her juice in the process and choked herself from hearing her own joke.

"That was a stupid rule. Who in their right mind would have a kid before the age of thirty anyway? At that pace, I will just never be able to get it."

"Maybe that's the point. You don't look like you need your trust fund, at all. I mean, you certainly look like you're walking on water and floating on cloud nine since that exclusive about Coping Together. You're going somewhere in that company."

"Ethan got his. He's not married nor does he has a kid. That guy's as single as a stick. He's like a replica of Elliot Grey without all the successes. And, guess what? He's got it on his twenty-first birthday!"

"Your family is old school, so naturally your father is going to think that he needs it."

"But, I don't? It also doesn't help that he's the eldest. We're twenty-six years old and I still don't have my trust? That's ridiculous."

"I don't have a trust fund to begin with."

"Why are you even defending my dad? You are the one who's hellbent on being an independent career woman when Christian could just be your ATM. Figuratively speaking."

"A sugar daddy is _not_ what I am looking for! I don't want him to support me even though I know that he has the means to do so."

"Don't you feel more secure knowing that you have back up?"

"I grew up without experiencing the feeling having money to fall back on, so I guess I'm more insecure when I do have it? I mean, I know that Christian will have my back if something happened to me financially, but I don't want to live with that notion ingrained in me."

"I guess I can understand what you're saying. But, I still think you shouldn't be so… absolute about your attitude to your relationship. It was such a beautiful one, to say the least."

After crashing in Kate's house for the night, they were now loading her car with their stuff. Nothing big and heavy, just Kate being Kate, having to bring a suitcase for a few nights away from home.

"Radio?" Anastasia suggested as they both shut their respective doors and buckled in.

"No, let's go through my new playlist."

"Oh, so the updated Billboard. I get it."

"No, not like that! Oh my god, the one time I played music from Billboard making Ethan call me tasteless in music, and you never let me live that down, Steele? All you have in your iPod are songs that are centuries old and slow like whatever old age people listen to."

"Then what do you have?" She giggled good-humoredly at Kate's complaints, of course she was going to lament about being teased.

"The new songs, that actually sounds good."

"Fine, whatever, just don't disturb me."

"It's only a four-hour drive, three if nothing happens."

"Your point?"

"You've driven longer time than this, you'll be fine with some pop music in the background."

Anastasia hummed her mind briefly wondered back to the last time she listened to a pop song.

It was with Christian.

_I need to tell you something_

The speaker played. Kate turned the volume off before the chorus could blast in full effect.

"I really need to tell you something," the sudden twist of the blonde's body in Anastasia's peripheral startled her, nearly making the car swivel.

"Jesus, Kate," she admonished the friend while keeping her eyes on the road. "Just start talking already!"

"Okay, I don't know where to begin, so I'm just going to jump straight into it. I'm participating in an… alternative lifestyle… called BDSM. That's what I meant by exploring."

"Way to dive head in," Anastasia groaned, it was at least better than shock since she was speeding down a highway and it really would do them harm if she snapped her eyes to Kate and glared at her in her face to make sure that the blonde girl was spewing the truth.

"Wait, that's not the reaction I was anticipating…"

"Kate, I'm driving, and we're only half-way there, how do you expect me to have a full-on surprised reaction?"

"You're too calm and not asking questions."

"That's because I know what you're talking about."

"You know? BDSM?"

"Yes, do you want me to tell you the full name?"

"No, it's just… very… refreshing to hear that you actually know this."

"It's somewhat taboo, I'll give it to you, but if you like kinky sex, who am I to judge."

"Okay… this is going in a completely different direction. How did you know about it?"

"It doesn't matter," she said dismissively but feared that it might throw Christian out since the dominant personality did kind of ooze out of him. "Besides, when you are a doctor, you kind of look at a wide range of lifestyles. So, start with your story. When did you start?"

Kate launched into story-telling mode and Anastasia turned the music up just a tad bit so she could drown out the unimportant details like the way her best friend was fucked. She nodded at the right moments and hummed at the others. Kate didn't reveal the name of the Dominant but she did reveal that they were still under contract.

Everything she was saying reminded Anastasia of a certain Dominant she knew, in spite of the history he had with the lifestyle was less than pleasant.

Now that her mind hd completely blocked out Kate and her speech, the soft sound from the car stereo was amplified in her ears.

_I'm never gonna let you close to me  
Even though you mean the most to me  
'Cause ever time I open up, it hurts  
So I'm never gonna get too close to you  
Even when I mean the most to you  
In case you go and leave me in the dirt_

The lyrics oddly resembled the insecurities that Christian was feeling when he realized that he had actually invested in this 'business relationship' emotionally, and now was in too deep.

Though not every sentence reflected the nature of their relationship but the slow and melancholy in this tune was reminding her every bit of her and Christian's time together.

_I'm way too good at goodbyes_

Every happy memories flashed before her eyes chronologically and she couldn't even remember who was better at saying goodbyes. She initiated this so-called platonic relationship but he was the one that pushed her away, believing that the less people knew how much she meant to him the safer she could be away from harm.

The problem was, what he couldn't grasp was the fact whether or not she was in the picture didn't matter, because Elena had more means to get to him than one.

Getting rid of Anastasia was just step one, and the successfulness of this process would not affect the plans set-in-motion for future destruction.

"Speaking of Doms, Ana, how are you and Christian doing?" Kate had obviously noticed the brunette's tight knitted brows and the forlorn mien, she knew that the song and the story had triggered some memories.

"They don't belong together," she protested under her breath. "We are fine. I promised to stay out of his life."

"What?"

"It doesn't matter, Kate. And, Christian and that lifestyle do not belong in one sentence."

"Could've fooled me."

Anastasia glanced sideways sharply, schooling in her expression, believing that she quite possibly had given away too much.

"What?" Kate responded to that wayward glance. "Anyone in the lifestyle that's met him in person can tell. That man exudes power." Anastasia appeared very uneasy. It wasn't her fault that her friend had figured it out; well, not entirely. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, and no, my Dom is not him."

They sat in silence, both partly paying attention to the playlist looping through the speaker.

"How did the party go?"

"It was okay."

"Ana, if you want to server all communication, you'll have to stop-thinking about him."

"But everything, literally everything triggers my memory of him."

"That's what he wants, I mean, look at that gigantic dog now taking up my entire backseat."

Anastasia remained mute. She knew that was what he wanted. Something was just bothering her that she couldn't quite place it, but she was also very determined to figure out what part of this conversation was making her anxious.

…

"Christian, let me introduce you to Mr José Rodriguez Sr and his son, Jr." The host of the dinner led the young businessman to another table. The father-son duo appeared to be in a heated discussion with another suit on the table, but both looked up when the host approached.

"Mr Grey, it is nice to finally meet you in person," the elder stood up to shake Christian's hand and the young one followed. "This is my son. I believe he is slightly older than you in age but unfortunately does not possess the talents like you have been blessed with."

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr Rodriguez."

"Please, José. Or you can call me Senior if we are in the presence of my son. He is still learning the ropes from me."

"I see. Is he to take over?"

"Oh, yes. I plan on fully retire in a few months and let my son have free rein over the family business."

"Excuse my bluntness…" and with that Christian quickly got talking with with the businessman. He asked about their scope and their main locations, and genuinely thought the family did well maintaining their legacy. Perhaps it was because they were the descendants of some bankers and had a hand in the heavy industries that Christian didn't see them as rivals. He wouldn't be so amiable if they were in the same scope.

…

Back in the hotel room, he had decided that this surprise visit was pretty eventful and he could return to Seattle after Easter to avoid his parents and most importantly Elena.

Speaking of Elena, he summoned Taylor.

"Has her house been searched?"

"Yes, it has, sir."

"And?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	20. So It Begins

**So It Begins**

"No, no, no! Kate! We are not sending this to anyone, let alone Christian!" Anastasia leapt out of the couch and chased her best friend around the small space. Taco kept jumping from side-to-side trying to somehow find an open spot for himself in this fun chasing game.

"It's so cute though," Kate swiped through the photos that they had just taken with bunny ears filters. There were a few of the two girls together but there were more of Anastasia alone in a selfie.

"No! Please don't."

"Oh my god, I swear you're trying to seduce the shit out of this guy!" Kate laughed at a picture of Anastasia sticking her tongue out as she let the cheese drop on to the tip from the potato. She captured the exact moment that they touched, and the pure bliss on he face almost resembled her in an orgasm.

"I'm not sending it to anyone. That wasn't my intention when I took that picture," Anastasia groaned. She settled back to the couch giving up trying to take her phone back, she trusted Kate to not send that photo without her explicit consent.

"I hate that I have to go back to work in two days and you still have a week to pack!" Kate protested, tossing the phone to her and picked up the wine bottle, instead of pouring into her wineglass, she poured it straight into her mouth.

"Kate!"

The blonde held up a finger signaling her to wait. "Okay, I'm done!" She shoved the bottle in Anastasia's hand and reached for her half-empty wineglass. The latter took the container and stared at her friend. "What? Oh my god, relax."

"Don't you think your Dom will be pissed, when he finds out about you drinking… like this?"

"And how do you know about the specifics?" Kate narrowed her eyes at the best friend who seemed to possess extensive knowledge to the lifestyle as a BDSM-virgin.

"You'll definitely get a spanking, unless you're topping from the bottom."

"Whoa, whoa, Steele! Slow down, there." Anastasia giggled, mimicking Kate's earlier gesture and brought the wine bottle to her lips like performing a mic-drop. "Who taught you those terms?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

Kate narrowed her eyes even more when Anastasia giggled louder.

"I signed an NDA," and that was a lie because Christian shredded it. "And, talking about my source is a hard limit." Not thoroughly enjoying the mien on Kate's face, she couldn't stop her giggles.

"You just don't want to admit that you subbed for Christian. Ana, you slut!"

"I swear I am a BDSM-virgin, Kav." Anastasia wasn't about to confirm her knowledge of Christian's deepest secret to the public.

"Why am I having trouble buying that. I highly doubt Christian could just do the whole vanilla thing."

"Well, he did," Anastasia stated confidently. "But, no, he's not in the lifestyle," _anymore_, she added.

…

"Don't lie to me, Taylor!" Christian growled at his head of security and everyone else in the room. "You're telling me that you've found nothing in her house?"

"The garage leads to her dungeon and everywhere else is squeaky clean," Welch reported, glancing at Barney for support and confirmation.

"I can vouch for Welch that this album is the only thing abnormal we obtained," Barney confirmed.

"Anything on the staged press debacle? Tangible proofs that are more legit than hacked phone logs?"

As Christian asked the questions, his mind drifted back to New York and meeting the Rodriguez. He did briefly wonder the reason behind Taylor's choice to delay the report of the search, but now he knew why. They needed time to fix this failure. The talk with José Sr did give him some confidence, though.

He turned his phone face down as another message came through, from Anastasia.

One glance at the preview and he already could guess its content.

And right now, he needed to focus.

_"So, how's it going with the biological father that jumped out of the blue?" José Sr asked curiously after they got comfortable talking business._

_"Oh, that?" Christian was taken aback by the question. It wasn't exactly personal since it was in the news, and everyone, especially businesspeople couldn't live without watching the news on a daily basis._

_"Yeah, has it been affecting your business?" Thankfully, the elder man was sensitive enough to not head toward the private side._

_"Well, I mean, frankly if the people I do business with takes everything the press feeds them, then I wouldn't want to remain in business with them."_

_"Smart man."_

_"But, surely it has a little impact on my public image since it is somewhat of a scandal that has painted my profile negatively."_

_"You certainly are smart and have the talent, Christian," José praised. His son, only a few years older than Christian nodded in admiration and awe. "Though, this scandal did dome from a credible news room not Page Six."_

_"Credible or not," Christian chuckled at the reference to the notorious entertainment section from New York. "They're still the media, and if they want to maintain their credibility they should've known better than to publish something so invalid."_

_"So, you're not considering a DNA test?" So the personal question began._

_"No, like I said, they are fabricating stuff. Maybe not out of thin air this time but still making up stories that are unverified. I'm not about to play into their schemes to make me paranoid."_

_"You think they are bluffing to get your attention?"_

_"I think they are making a big deal out of nothing."_

_"The guy in the video does have some resemblance to you."_

_"Man, you can probably find my twin in this world if you look closely. There are 7.7 billion people on Earth, there certainly are one or two that are lookalikes. I mean I can probably find someone and say that he's your father by the appearances but you won't even be from the same ethnicity and he may even be younger than you."_

_José Sr laughed amiable at this remarkable young man. His frankness and straightforward attitude surely contributed to winning him over more than his accomplishments had._

_When he conjured up the series of questions to put the young millionaire on the spot, he was thinking about making him a deal. If he fared well with the intrusive inquisitions, he would invest in his business in New York._

_It seemed like Grey had exceeded the expectation and his smoothness had left an impression, and subsequently hooked himself up with a big fish. If Rodriguez announced that he was going to throw money at someone, then the entire economy better follow suit. The family wasn't a legacy of the bankers for no reason._

The old man truly believed in Christian and his ability to thrive to the billionaire status in the near future, and the young man certainly wasn't going to let him down.

At least, not voluntarily.

…

"Sir," Taylor's voice jolted him awake from living in his successes in New York. He was hardly aware of the discussion that went on between his security and tech team during his deep musing. "I think you should take a look at this."

"What's this?" Christian took the pieces of papers from his hands and scanned through the contents.

"The medical record of the pimp."

"Okay, what am I looking for? I don't understand any of the terms here unless…" he wanted to say Anastasia, but stopped himself, "someone translates it for me," his level of irritation arose. He was even more vexed now than ever that he could be reminded of Anastasia when he was in such a dire situation.

"The very bottom, it says that he is on life support since a few weeks ago," Barney supplied.

"It doesn't say…" Christian frowned, he knew nothing about what a life support machine entail.

"Being on a ventilator and a feeding tube are two forms of life support."

"So, if these are pulled, he can die?" Christian asked trying to keep the hope out of his voice. He wanted this son of a bitch gone, and by that he meant dead.

"Yes, but Mr Grey," Barney glanced at Welch nervously, because he wanted to get his PR team involved but was turned right down earlier when Grey zoned out. Both Welch and Taylor reminded him that they were the only tree at GEH who knew about the true relationship between the boss and Elena. "The problem is, just a few months before he collapsed, he has added a medical power of attorney to his will and signed an DNR."

"How is that a problem?"

The three members glanced at each other before Taylor spoke up after all eyes landed on him expectantly.

"Mrs Lincoln is his medical power of attorney and she is currently in the process of adopting his son."

"Son?" Christian almost fainted, this did not come up in any of the background checks on Elena, extensive or not.

"He has one recorded child and we have reasons to believe that Mrs Lincoln's motives in adopting this kid is to…" Welch trailed off but Christian understood the implication. It was a repeat of his own teenage life.

"We have to stop this process," Christian frowned. "How old is he?"

"Turning fifteen."

"Christ," Grey mumbled. "Was he abused yet?"

"It doesn't seem that way," Barney answered.

"That is the reason why her house has been cleared of any trace of the abusive lifestyle she lives in," Welch concluded.

"What can we do with the information we have?"

"Nothing," Taylor replied, he was the one that had been closest to Grey so he was always the one to take the burn. "The information we've gathered all came from illegal means, we cannot submit it to anyone."

"So, if Elena doesn't make a mistake, all we can do is sit her and twiddle our thumbs praying that the thunder doesn't struck us?"

"Your father is helping with speeding up the legal process," Taylor added without addressing the incredulous outburst from the boss.

"Fuck!"

"Sir, we strongly advice you to expose her true form to your parents, that is the only way to force Mrs Lincoln's hand. Once she panics, she will make a mistake."

"No, there has to be another way around this."

Christian had thought about coming clean to his family, at least to his parents first, but he just couldn't put his foot down and do it. Too many doubts were swimming through his head, and if his parents kicked him out for conjuring up such a ridiculous story about their dear friend, he would have no one. Especially when Anastasia had vowed to stay out of his life, just as he wanted, there would be no one to turn to if it all turned into a disaster. She was his confidant and his constant, and he pushed her away.

"Is there a way to slow down the process or intervene?"

"Not without notifying more people."

"Is she back yet?" Grey tugged on his hair hard and frustratedly.

"She will be very soon."

"One more thing regarding the pimp," Taylor broke the silence after Barney's flat toned reply, "the pimp will be pulled from life support after the adoption process is complete. Or once he's dead, the process will be through, at least the boy won't remain in the system."

"Do you think Elena will speed up his death deliberately?"

"I don't think that's necessary," Welch spoke up. "I'm no doctor, clearly, but according to the file and some deduction, he might not even make it until the end of the adoption procedure."

"Who's covering the hospital bill currently?" Grey asked as if sensing that he had hope in getting rid of Elena without involving other people.

"Mrs Lincoln," Taylor took over by the glances that all darted toward him.

"What about the power of attorney?"

"Also her. It seems like she has taken advantage of his drug-induced mental state. He is hardly sober, and even when he is, he wouldn't give a shit about his afterlife or anything other than his next dose of drug or alcohol."

"So, he's leaving her everything?"

"There hardly is anything to leave behind other than debts, possibly."

"Is Elena also paying his debt?"

"We believe so," Taylor wasn't so confident in providing this piece of information.

"Jesus, she really is going out of her way to act all innocent and cover up her tracks."

"Or she is," Taylor swallowed nervously, "pimping for rich and high profile men like yourself to earn the extra income. These people would pay hefty amount to keep her silent in addition to the NDA."

"But you said that she doesn't have an offshore account. Does she have any large deposits or transactions?"

"No, but she could be using the salon to launder the money. She did have a few seemingly illogical investors."

"She is very careful."

…

SEPTEMBER 2015

"Adam, you stayed! Are you giving up the job in the OR?" Anastasia mentally rolled her eyes at the strange lady yet somewhat familiar that came out of nowhere. She believed that she had never seen her before, but Adam seemed to recognize her annoying ass.

"That's my Frederik. She's that Candy Crush lady, I thought you know her" he said in her ear after finally getting rid of her and giving her an odd look. "She's been like that since I returned in April. Acts like she's seeing me for the first tie every time we met."

"Should've gone to an acting school. Hollywood might appreciate her natural talent," Anastasia snorted loudly, not caring who heard it since they were strolling outdoors.

"Ana!" Adam laughed, shoving her away almost making her fall off of the narrow side walk.

"What, does she not know that you're a single man looking for another man?" She stuck back to his side and looped her arms through his elbow this time to prevent from being pushed off again.

"Who can I find in Scandinavia? I am almost double your age. You can't even find a suitor what am I?"

"Oh, suitors I don't lack."

"Oh yes, Frederik, how can I forget?"

"No, he's my number one fan. Actually, I think it's past tense now."

"Why?"

"Christian heard him and some girl at the door the last time he was here."

"Does he know your neighbor?"

"I heard it, too. So, I can vouch for him. But, I think he's given up, Frederik I mean."

"Probably thought Christian is your boyfriend or husband or something."

"Maybe," she shrugged, shifting closer to him when a gush of wind blew over.

"But, that's not what I was going to ask you before we ran into that woman."

Adam was the only one that she was familiar with of all the doctors and scientists that remained. So, naturally they stuck together whenever they could. For her, it was always safer to have someone next to her when she was on foreign turf. Especially important that someone was trustworthy and preferably from her own country.

"Oh?"

"I was going to ask how long you plan on staying here."

"Until this research project is published."

"so, you're most likely going home for the end of year celebrations. Christmas and stuff?"

"More than likely, I think."

"What do you mean?"

"My research from a few years back got recognized and was nominated for some kind of scholarly article prize or something along that line."

"Oh, really? Wow. Congratulations!"

"Thank you. So, I might make a trip back for that ceremony even if I don't win in the end around October. It's in Seattle."

"Seattle?"

"Yes, so, wanna tag along and come back for a bit?"

"Only if I get to take the private plane."

Anastasia laughed, it had been all he could dream about since she accidentally let it slipped that Christian had a Gulfstream. He was the ultimate airplane freak.

"Keep dreaming, Adam."

"You're not taking it back? Your man will surely have a fit if you don't land in his territory his style."

"A fit I can deal with, but he'll probably have a seizure if I snuck back."

"Didn't you just complained about him not replying to your texts on your anniversary?"

Anastasia rolled her eyes and huffed. She sent a picture of her and Taco in the kitchen with baking materials and tools scattered across the table, and then a video of Taco wagging its tail violently and smugly with a spatula in his mouth.

There was no reply but she received a read receipt.

"Don't remind me," she scoffed. "He's just… you know what? Forget about him, what are you getting me for my birthday?"

"I thought you're going to Seattle to spend it with your hot man."

"Don't play dumb."

He laughed. "You do know that people don't usually ask others for presents right? What did you ask from Grey?"

"Nothing, I never ask him for anything."

"Oh, but you have the cheek to ask me?"

"Well, you can tell me that you're not getting me anything."

"Hypocrite."

This time, she laughed. "My parents are flying over, so it's okay, because I probably won't even see you for a few days. Then, I am going to be so busy writing reports and making some final decisions about the experiment that I am a part of."

"Rumor has it that the medicine your team came up with can be patented?" Anastasia hummed. It certainly was heading in that direction but she wasn't allowed to reveal anything. She wasn't even a senior researcher nor someone important on the team, she only got recruited when they were about two-thirds through their initial test, and if it wasn't for her earlier research papers, she probably wouldn't even be considered.

"You're not going to tell me?"

"Of course not! You're not allowed to talk about your experiments with me either."

"Shame, I was hoping I'd get bragging rights."

"How about you brainstorm some places I can take my parents to, huh? Be real."

"Take them to wherever you took your boyfriend." Anastasia had already gave up completely on trying to correct another hopeless romantic that she was single. He simply wouldn't accept the truth, he outright refused to hear anything about it but stuck on the lovely eyes that she would always have when she talked about Christian.

"Are you serious? You would take your parents to places that you took your lover to?"

"Just forget about the more romantic places."

"Adam, come on, be a little more helpful, will ya? It's going to be romantic wherever you go with your lover."

"Then take them to town, the shopping street or whatever touristy places."

"My mom would love to, but my dad will hate to see more people in a country that claims to have sparse population."

"Oh, then you've lost me. I don't know what your parents are like."

Anastasia continued to make him bounce ideas off of her so she could plan a tour route. They made a full circle around campus and now was on their way back.

…

When Anastasia asked her parents it they had booked a hotel, their respond truly surprised her.

"Oh, Christian booked us this very fancy room just a few blocks down," Carla took in the space of her tiny living space while Ray went to chase Taco around. "He came by the airport to drop off your birthday gifts in person. He could've easily leave it on the jet and send us a text."

Anastasia's eyes widened by each account from her mother's nonchalant narrative.

_Perhaps he's not trying to cut ties with me? Besides, it's not like I had stick to my promise to stay away either._

She still sent him pictures of Taco on different occasions and holidays, other than updates on Taco, she refrained from sending anything else.

Her mind still didn't connect the dots that Kate was talking to Christian and updating the pussy on Anastasia's life, and it wouldn't click until she saw Kate's give among the small box from Christian.

Kate's present was a long baking ribbon that reminded her of a conversation they had on Easter, where she was talking about seeing a dick-shaped baking mold in her Dom's place and got spanked after making a smart comment. So, she browsed the web and thought this could allow her imagination to run wild with the shapes.

Then, she took the box in her hand. It had the brand _Cartier_ calligraphy on it, so she wasn't sure what to expect. When she opened the lid, a piece of paper flew out.

Bending down, she was slightly confused at the image. She glanced up to see her parents still occupied with going through the stuff and decor of her place, so she returned her focus back on the box.

The image showed a _Cartier_ Love Bracelet much liked hers, but there was a string of cursive engraved on the inside. She brought the paper closer to her face and barely made it out as her name. Frowning in confusion, she turned the page hoping to find some sort of explanation, but all she got was  
_Happy birthday, baby  
x Christian_

She didn't dare interpret the actual meaning, so she thought she could talk to Kate first.

Then, she went back to the content of the box. It was a key that reminded her of the one Christian still had around his neck, usually hidden under the collar of his shirt. Her initial thought was this was _her_ key because her gesture of sending him a picture of a red geometrical heart-shaped cake had been too forward and out of element for his birthday, overall defying the platonic nature of their relationship. It was supposed to be his birthday gift, made with chili-flavored chocolates.

In addition to her self-doubt, it really wasn't like him to send her something so small. Until she knew the real meaning behind if from Kate.

_God, this is pathetic. I have to talk to him through my best friend._

The more she stared at the key in her hand, the more curious she was.

"Fuck it," she said to herself, luckily no one was around her, so she sent a text to Kate asking about the gift.

She only received a photograph in return. It was a hand, well a wrist, with the love bracelet on as the single jewelry on the hand.

Her theory was proven wrong, because she could recognize that hand from anywhere and the cufflinks that she bought him.

"Son of a bitch," Anastasia cussed in defeat.

This was his way of reassuring her that he was still with her on the pact they made.

…

OCTOBER 2015

Anastasia didn't win the award but she was satisfied with the nomination. It was a good start for her. The winners' age average was above forty and she was only in her late twenties.

Her experiments in Copenhagen was concluded, and she had the report ready and the draft sent to the senior members of the team. If this all went according to plan, she would have another source of income, from their patented medicine. Though, she always believed that her contributions weren't nearly enough to take credit along with the other members of the team that had obviously been working on it for years.

She was going to stop by Ethan's place to meet him then back to Copenhagen for the final meetings before submitting it for publication.

and, she was already at the door, knocking on it since she had returned the keys to Kate soon after they both moved away to the East Coast.

"Ana?" Ethan's wide eyes and disheveled hair plus his state of undress was already enough to render her speechless. Then, he phone rang the same moment she opened her mouth to apologize.

So, instead of greeting him and addressing the obvious awkwardness and apologize for not calling in advance, she said. "I'm sorry, I have to take this."

Raising the phone to her ear. In her panic state she had forgot to check the caller ID. Ethan opened the door wider to let her in. It was at least better than letting her stand in the doorway, or worse, shunned outside. She was going to tell whoever to call her back because she couldn't speak at the moment but everything was just so out of control at the moment.

"Ethan, baby? Who is that?" That familiar voice made Anastasia froze in her spot as she listened to the caller. She was no in a much more panicking situation than earlier. Now, she wished she had never chose to stop by for the sake of long time no see.

"Yes, I will be there. Did your patient suggest a date? Any day they prefer?" She said into the phone. Her back turned to Ethan's bedroom so she could concentrate and get this call over with. "As soon as possible, okay. Send me the files, and I will be over as soon as I can. yes," she chuckled awkwardly, "I was just at the ceremony, so I'm still in Seattle, but it's okay, I can push my return day back. My colleagues in Copenhagen will understand. No, thank _you_ for reaching out." She smiled politely as if the caller could see it. "I will see you soon, yep, bye."

The moment she turned around, all three of them in the apartment froze, Taco was the only one seeming oblivious to the stiff atmosphere.

"Oh, god…" Anastasia muttered, her eyes darting between the couple before her both standing under the bright ceiling lamp. "I am so sorry to intrude. I should've called first," she uttered slowly and swallowed nervously.

"Well, since you're already here," Ethan gestured to the seats inviting her to sit down.

"Um… I can go…" she pointed at the door pathetically. Taco was already off the leash sniffing around and stopping next to the couple because there was a faint smell of his other owner on the woman.

"Since you're here, Ana, let me show you my new baked goods. Maybe you can be the judge of how it tastes?"

"Oh my god, how much have I missed?" Anastasia had no idea ho to behave at the moment. Mia seemed to have recovered from the embarrassment and was completely ignorant of the long friendship that her boyfriend shared with Anastasia.

"You didn't tell me?" Anastasia demanded the moment Mia disappeared into the kitchen. "Did she move in or something?"

"We just started seeing each other," Ethan replied in a low voice. "I didn't even tell Kate."

"Oh," was all she could utter.

"Yeah, you kind of barged in on us."

"Well, I'm sorry. I was kind of in a rush but desperately wanted to see you before I go. I haven't seen you in years."

"I know, I miss you, too, sis. It's a shame that you already moved out when I moved back. Though, I did see you briefly when you video chatted with Kate."

"Yeah, well, I've kind been really busy lately."

"Fair enough. I'll let it slip that you've neglected to tell me you snatched the elite bachelor. Seattle's most eligible and probably now slowly becoming the nation's."

"Stop adding titles to him, he's just a businessman."

"Oh, not just any businessman. He is enchanting, hot and let's not forget, ripped."

"You sound gay," Anastasia deadpanned. "And, have you seen him naked?"

"Seen who naked?" Mia chose that time to re-enter the living room with plates of snacks. They looked edible and slightly appealing but not enough for sale, probably because of the food coloring.

"Your brother," Ethan supplied eyeing Anastasia who was now physically removing Taco's head from the plates so he didn't lick and accidentally steal a piece.

"Ew… okay, I know that you are dating my brother and Ethan is obsessed with him, but please don't include me in those conversations. I like to think of him fully clothed."

"Suit yourself, Mia. Ana's seen your brother in his birthday suit."

And that earned him a kick from Anastasia, a praise from Mia complimenting the brunette and Ethan finally shut up.

"I am really sorry to barge in," Anastasia apologized to Mia regrettably, reaching out for a cookie that she recognized as the one they made together years ago in the penthouse.

Mia waved it off, her mind subconsciously searching for memories when she had walked in on her and Christian but came up with none. All her memories of the couple were sweet, loving and mature. They were playful, cute and downright adorable, so she still couldn't believe it one night when Christian announced that they had actually broken up long ago.

Though, she had suspected that was more for Elena's benefit than their parents.

Anastasia stayed for a bit longer before announcing that she needed to leave. Just as she reached the door, her phone rang again. She sighed and picked it up, this time checking the caller ID.

"Taylor?"

…

That was what led her to the penthouse. Christian's home office was where she was currently seated. A few men that she had never met before were also there. Taco went to beg Gail for food in the kitchen as if this was his home.

"My lawyer, my head of IT and my security advisor. Taylor you know at the corner," Christian introduced. His expression controlled and his tone impassive and distant. There was something chilly about his demeanor; it was so cold.

"Nice to meet you all, gentlemen," Anastasia said softly.

"You are here to sign a few legal documents regarding Mr Grey," the head of legal took over and presented a few stacks of paper before her.

She could feel a sense of urgency in the air but she couldn't put her fingers on them. Something was just plain wrong. She knew Christian was clearly hiding something from her, and it was not the fact that he was contracting submissives one after another.

Her eyes returned to the documents in her hands after gazing at Christian analytically with no avail. They widened in shock at the content.

"What? No…"

Her eyes shot up to meet his intense gray orbs.

"What are you doing, Christian?" She demanded, tears were springing free from her eyes all of a sudden, and she didn't even know where the came from. "I thought you promised me," she whispered tearfully in despair.

"I did, and I tend to honor them," he nodded stiffly and professionally, recalling their conversation last December. "They are just precautions. Please, sign them."

She had no choice but to accept the responsibility. She wouldn't have it any other way.

She knew that she was the only person he trusted fully right now. So, she signed on his will, and became his power of attorney in all aspects. She only wished that it never reached this stage.

She could silently ponder what triggered this.

…

Earlier in the day, Elena had received the most elating news to her.

However, not to Christian.

Elena was now on her way to the foster home to pick up her almost adopted son in the name of seeing his father's remain one last time. The kid was almost hers to do as she wished.

Christian nearly blacked out when the news came too soon.

_"The pimp is announced to be brain dead. His heart stopped seconds later."_

_"The life support has been pulled."_

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	21. No Calm Before The Storm

_**No Calm Before the Storm**_

_"… the ostensible biological father of Christian Grey was announced brain dead yesterday at noon Seattle local time, and subsequently pulled from life support… according to various sources [the birth father] has signed a Do Not Resurrect form weeks before collapsing and being hooked on various life support machines."_

_"Christian Grey has yet to make any statement or respond to the tragic event…"_

_"There is no day that this isn't a demonstration of Mr Grey's shrewd and cold-hearted personality…"_

_"We have reasons to believe that Christian Grey isn't a caring man given that he has never made a comment regarding his sick father…"_

_"… not even an DNA test was administered… he allegedly showed no interest in making an effort to reach out…"_

All morning, this was what every news station was reporting. It was on the headline of every newspaper and Anastasia's phone was blowing up with Google alerts that she was forced to turn it off. She had no idea how this would impact Christian and his work because all she had heard since the morning and from co-workers were negative things about him.

Perhaps that was the reason why she was summoned to his home yesterday to sign the documents. Though, it still puzzled her that he chose her out of all people. He could've chosen Taylor, he would have more idea regarding what to do with his properties than she did.

He was so cold and distant to her yesterday; barely sparing a glance her way. She didn't plan on shedding those tears in his study more importantly, in front of those men in suits, but that sudden pressure and responsibility fell in her lap—as if the weight of the world was suddenly on her shoulders—the tears couldn't be helped.

She couldn't longer in Seattle even if she wanted to. Anastasia was reminded of the favor she was asked when her work email pinned with an attached files of the patient that she was supposed to look into. Declining the offer to take the jet from Taylor, she went on the plane she was scheduled to take before the prompt stop at Escala.

A part of her wondered why he demanded to meet her at home instead of Grey House, and it wasn't until she closed her eyes on the plane and started to drift off to sleep did she notice that the penthouse was restored to the appearance before she packed everything into the box. It was as if she had never picked up.

He didn't move the boxes away, a sudden realization that hit her chased all her sleepiness away. She rested her head against the airplane window and stared into the darkness outside of the glass. Taco was slightly restless next to her, she had forgot to feed him in her rush to catch this plane. It wasn't like she had eaten anything, she sulked to herself now anxiously waiting for refreshments to be served.

If she was lucky enough, some flight attendants would be charmed by Taco and would offer him some leftovers, so she didn't have to share her meal with that daft dog tonight.

She could only imagine what Christian must be going through at the moment but she couldn't step away from her duties, as much as she wanted to remain to offer moral support. The snarky pert of her reminded her that she needn't worry, because he would turn and find a submissive faster than she could land in Baltimore. She nearly fished out his secret to Mia when she ambushed her in Ethan's apartment earlier, taking her words out of context, she thought Mia knew about the lifestyle only to realize that she was referring to the vile woman that was still lingering in the Grey household.

Luckily, the every so oblivious Mia Grey didn't disappoint her with her negligence of a secret that was already at the tip of her tongue. Even Ethan has detected it.

What bothered Anastasia the most was what Christian had muttered when she was on her way out of the office. It was an order she could not comply with, even if she wanted to, this sudden turn of events and abrupt request would always plague her.

_"Think nothing of it," he had murmured to her and she almost didn't catch that._

And, after that meeting with him, she had made up her mind to literally cease all contact with him. She wouldn't even attempt to keep him up to date on Taco's growth even though she would be keeping the pictures.

Anastasia would just pretend that Christian was just another man on the planet Earth. Despite the information was never corrected on the Wikipedia page.

…

Christian stared at the iPad now passed from Taylor into his hands. He barely noticed how Taylor and Welch both glanced at each other to silently confirm that they had deleted their copy and Barney who nodded to confirm that he had erased it completely off of any records. The only copy they now had was on this encrypted iPad.

He was at lost at the content on the screen. The only positive thoughts among all the negative ones were, at least he made the right decision to summon her to his office that day to sign the documents, because at least Carrick wouldn't be able to control his assets, which meant Elena couldn't touch it at all.

"What… fuck…" he couldn't even make a sound at the photographs. "Are they videos, too?"

He didn't wait for his team to give him an answer as he swiped through the entire album.

"I didn't know… she never told me she'd do that. I guess that's where her idea of taking photos of women in compromising positions as insurance came from," he muttered darkly to no one in particular but everyone in the room heard it.

The camera roll was all the pictures of his teenage self, bound and exposed.

…

DECEMBER 2015

While Christian was receiving bad news one after the other, Anastasia was actually having a pretty smooth sail in her journey.

The patient that specifically named her to be the anesthesiologist wanted to push the surgery to before Christmas, and he was a high-profile patient that could hardly be denied, so Anastasia had to make a judgment based on everything written on paper without getting to know the patient very well in person. She had been through the files for months while taking on other patients but she had never settled on a plan give that so many sources told her that the family of this patient was particularly picky and demanding.

"Hello, Mr Rodriguez," Anastasia greeted the family member after being introduced by the hoard of doctors already gathered in the private room.

The young man shook her outstretched hand, a small smile slowly surfaced. He had heard of this doctor first through the mouth of Christian Grey when they were introduced in New York, he had spoken highly of her.

The younger José hadn't really given the woman much thought, and when he googled her, the only result that came up was her as Christian's girlfriend. There was nothing about her and even on the Wikipedia page of Grey she was named as his partner and nothing else. Even the personal life section was more than brief.

The couple was very private—too private that José quickly lost interest in Anastasia.

"Dr Steele," José chuckled embarrassingly. When this name was first given to him from their trusted surgeon friend from Seattle, he had imagined a much older doctor. "I honestly wasn't expecting a doctor so young."

"You are too blunt," his assistant or whatever associate next to him whispered in his ear.

"No, I understand," Anastasia diffused the situation. "If I may, who gave you the reference to me?"

"A Dr Hall, from Northwest Seattle," José spoke, instantly taking a strong liking to this amiable young professional. She was gentle and her tone was soft but firm and polite. "You came highly recommended. Even Dr Trevelyan was sining your praises."

_Adam?_ Anastasia thought incredulously while keeping a poker face, that guy probably just wanted her to do him a favor while she was back in the States to get the patient off of his back.

"I'm sorry, did you mean Grace Trevelyan-Grey?"

"Yes, I met her son—your boyfriend—in New York a few months ago. He didn't reveal much about you, but he said you are a very accomplished anesthesiologist."

"Oh," Anastasia was stunned speechless, she didn't exactly believe that Grace sang her praises, after all, she did question her about her motives behind taking the Copenhagen quest. On the other hand, it really wasn't all that surprising that Christian spoke really highly of her. Though, she was tempted to correct the patient that they were no longer in a relationship.

_Or in a contract, for that matter._ She added to herself bitterly.

"Well, I was informed that you wished to let your father undergo surgery before Christmas."

"Yes, that is the plan, but we were told that you need longer to prepare?"

"Oh no, that wasn't what I meant. I was just under the impression that there are some recent developments that has complicated the initial matter. I just want to get to know the patient better before finally deciding on a plan that suits them best. I have to coordinate with all of your father's doctors," Anastasia explained patiently.

"Yes, he collapsed a few days ago, and his health is rapidly declining on somedays, and stagnating some others. There rarely is a day when he wasn't suffering. So, we'd like to administer the surgery as soon as we have a window of opportunity."

"So, you'd like to have a plan prepared for surgery?"

"Yes," José confirmed.

"Okay," Anastasia glanced at the other doctors around her and all nodded back. "Then, we have a few proposals."

In the next few hours, they huddled around and talked about the best approach and what drug would be used as well as making the entire idealized surgical procedure transparent.

Finally, José gave his consent, acting as the medical power of attorney and they settled on a date next week and was scheduled into all of the doctor's calendars.

Anastasia was slightly pensive about the case in hand, it was tricky and she didn't believe she had enough experience to be the doctor in charge, making all the calls about the entire plan for anesthesia for a long-hour operation.

She had just received her certificate for Manual Lymphatic Drainage, and she hadn't been in the operation room for nearly two years, even though she had been doing relative experiments. She felt like her experiments weren't clinical enough. She had even called Adam to chew him out for putting her on the spot only for him to laugh at her and tell her that this was a long-time friend of his and was his patient briefly when he was exchanging in New York.

In other words, he was confident that she could get this family off of his back.

…

Christian barely made it out of the elevator in the lobby of Escala before flashes begun.

He sighed, the press was here for him once again. Probably another something about him had been leaked to the news. Probably Elena gave them some new tips or something.

Automatically, a building security guard appeared next to him and ushered him back into the lift.

If he thought the media stunt that Elena pulled on Christmas last year, then this was so much worse. The attacks from the press were coming on full force with each tip released to the news since the death of the pimp in October. Nothing reported was particularly interesting but there seemed to be some nuance in each article from each uproar of the press.

Three months had passed and the articles were still circulating around him, painting him as a cold hearted bastard who couldn't even spare a second to at least take an DNA test, or the pimp and him were much too alike to be brushed off as strangers… et cetera, the list was endless and so were the news articles.

The news instantly made the pimp a celebrity and Elena a heroine.

Ironically, no one found it suspicious that her name was always and only associated with positive reports, as if they were carefully mentioned just in case they tainted her name accidentally with something negative. They praised her for rising to the challenge and adopting a neglected teenager.

This was simply just another clue to him that she was a hundred percent behind this fiasco, yet he still didn't have enough solid evidence to sue her fake ass for this debacle.

That was what frustrated him and his team that most.

…

With immense pressure that Anastasia hadn't felt in so long since her first shadowing experience and after she changed for the OR, she entered with her assistants and nurses by her side. Taking deep breaths, she really hoped that she wasn't feeling so nervous like it was her first time in the room all by herself. There was no one to lean on, no one to turn to, and no one to ask advice from.

Anastasia had her fingers crossed and she silently sent a prayer to whoever wished to believe her at the moment that everything would go smoothly.

And, it appeared like it did.

For a short time.

…

If the rumors circulating the society about him not only being shrewd in the boardroom but a man lacking basic human compassion in his life, then the next hit would make him a psychopathic monster.

Though, before the media went that far ahead to spread rumors and paint a false image of him, he was already experiencing some losses, mostly because of his lack of response to the rumors.

"Christian, you have to do something about the running rumor mill around what kind of person you are," Ros rushed into the office for their meeting.

"Why?" Christian already had an inkling idea of what she might say next but he needed time to think.

"Because your lack of reaction is already making people refuse to work with you. I'm not saying that big corporations are moving away but rumor has it that there will be a pending strike in the near future. And, small investors are pulling out, or dissolving their shares. Apparently they aren't willing to associate their fame and reputation with a… person like you."

"What's new?" He sighed exasperatedly, what Ros was telling him wasn't news to him but to hear that people were actually taking their money away was a sign to him that his reputation was really going downhill and he might be dragging his company down.

Though, there must be something shocking to the public revealed today for investors to actually dissolve their involvement. The last thing he wanted was to let the news negatively impact his company. That was also one of the reason why he left everything to Anastasia, he had faith in her that she would keep it afloat while he couldn't.

"One word. BDSM."

"Fuck," he cursed.

"I don't care if you are into kinky sex, Christian. Honestly, you do have that personality, but this taboo lifestyle is going to be seen as some filthy activity by the society despite what it might be in reality."

"I'm glad you don't find me as a freak or some psychopath."

"I will find you beyond annoying when the press starts to call my personal cell. Your PR team and assistant and most of the executive assistants are already fielding calls from the press."

"They got their office number?"

Rod nodded solemnly, and Christian grimaced. Normally, there would be a series of profanities either going through his mind or out of his mouth, but none appeared this time. He just at there numbly staring at the space between his computer and his right hand woman, his fingers drumming the desk in a rhythmic pattern.

She scowled at his fingers but he didn't notice. His mind was already too far gone to notice any changes in the room.

"This is getting out of hand…"

"No shit!" Ros snapped. "So, do something about it! We can't go on like this."

"I'll schedule a press conference."

"_Press conference_? Wait a minute," Ros frowned deepened and her voice raise an octave to express her excessive incredulity. "When I said do something, I didn't mean for you to go all out. I just meant that you should probably release an official statement or something."

Christian shrugged. He wasn't behaving like himself. She hadn't noticed that until now but in hindsight, he had been evolving daily since October when the news came out. It was like he was retreating back to his shell, and now, he was almost fully inside its protection.

"Christian, are you okay?"

"No," Christian muttered flatly.

"Maybe you should take a few days to gather your shit?" That was her expressing her sincere concern, despite the casual use of swear words. It might sound callous to other people but this was how Ros talk.

"My shit is already all over the internet, I don't think there's much left for me to gather now is it?" He peered at her briefly with dull and hollow eyes before speaking in monotone. There was a wry smile on his face that was almost scary.

Ros sighed, she would be sticking with him but she also wanted him to learn when to take a break, because his attitude would eventually irritate her and it would be putting more strain on their partnership if they planned on overcoming this huge obstacle together.

"It's my reaction they want, and a statement won't satisfy them. I will make an exception and address everything in a press conference after the New Year."

She nodded in acceptance, there was nothing she could do or say to convince him otherwise because his tone was determined and final.

He was one step away from his billion-dollar project, and given the current circumstances, he was having a few doubts toward his financial standing. Though, he still reached out to the shipyard headquarters in Baltimore.

…

Anastasia stopped on her way to her office as she walked passed the private ICU section near the operation room. She normally wouldn't be so nosy but the very distinguishable voice of the young José was what halted her steps. When she finally located the source of the noises, she started to make her way over.

"What's going on?" She asked casually, and a few doctors parted leaving a gap for her to stick her head through.

There was a piece of paper in their hands and from the solemn expressions on the faces of the doctors, and the paper shaking in between José's fingers, as well as his almost tear stricken face along with the stony face from his personal assistant, she could only imagine what was being discussed; or more like announced.

"What happened?" For once in her life, she walked in on José looking for an explanation from the responsible doctors after receiving the written alert updating the condition of his father from 'serious' to 'critical'.

No one spoke or answered her though they did acknowledge her presence and recognized her as the one of the doctors responsible for the operation a few days ago. Her eyes darted to the page and scanned the content.

Everything printed seemed like a normal notice with the vital data of the patient recorded and the changes observed in the ICU since entering. There was only one condition that captured her attention.

"Cerebral edema?" Anastasia questioned to no one in particular. When she looked up she was met with four pairs of eyes, all staring at her waiting for her to make the next move. "Show me the MRI."

The image was shoved in her hands quickly after the initial shock wore off. She raised it to the bright lamps on the ceiling and read from the film.

"The scan image and the symptoms recorded all pointed to one thing, cerebral edema. He is unconscious and suffering because of an increase in intracranial pressure," she murmured and glanced at the neurologist who had came to the same conclusion but was proposing another solution with much higher consequences.

"I know that," the doctor said sending her a glare. He was about to say more but Anastasia dashed off after shoving the film in his hand and telling him to take a closer look at the situation in the head.

It was like a light bulb going off in her head when she tossed the page callously to the four people gawking at her stiffly as she rushed into the room behind the glass. Guess her work in Copenhagen was about to pay off.

"Move!" She shoved away the nurses around the bed in the ICU. "No, no, no," she swatted away the hands reaching for his head as she chanted. "Is he allergic to latex?" She asked the group of nurses hovered around him who was still trying to get him hooked on to a life support machine and other machines to relief some of the pressure from inside the cranium.

"No," one of them answered after checking and double checking his chart.

"Good," she muttered and put on a pair and pried open his mouth after tilting his head back a little for better access. She had heard that by letting out blood from the tip of the ear was also a method but she didn't dare try since she had never seen it done before.

Her attendance had been requested when pain medication was administered, and she was the one in charge of the application of anesthesia during the entire surgical process few days ago, and she had already voiced her concerns to the patient's family prior to selecting the treatment they used. The were the VIPs in the hospital and a big name in New York apparently, it was no wonder that everyone hovered over when something happened. She had already warned everyone about the possibility of the effect on the man's brain, but the family had been willing to take the risk after examining the possibility and found out it was rather low.

She kept a close eye on the patient, and insisted that he undergo a MRI scan after he woke up soundly in the ICU from the anesthesia. But the family refused to put him through it so soon after a major surgery, so she could only observe the symptoms though there wasn't much she could witness since the patient was in and out of consciousness.

Almost an hour later, she came back out asking the other doctors to send him for another MRI in half an hour, she needed to make sure that she had reduced the swelling by draining them down lymphatic tubes just like she had learned in Denmark.

She didn't follow up on the patient after the impromptu attempt to drain the fluid simply because she was really occupied by other patients that were transferred to her last minute since she was going to stay for a while, and she didn't even know what the second MRI said since Rodriguez Sr's neurologist never paged her. Though it was understandable since she did somewhat took over his duty unintentionally, so she didn't give it much thought in the next few days and concentrated on the surgeries at hand.

That was until a week later when she received a call from the patient's son, José Rodriguez Jr. Anastasia was due to depart for Copenhagen after the New Year as she and her team back in Denmark had discussed and decided on over the last week. Their research project was concluding and they had agreed that Anastasia's presence wasn't crucial since she only took part in drafting up the report. Still, they promised her that she would be credited if they were patented after applying for it in a few months' time next year.

"Doctor Steele, I can't thank you enough for saving my father. Can I treat you to dinner to thank you in person?"

"Mr Rodriguez, please, I'm just doing my job. I am really glad to hear that your father's doing well. I have already stepped on my colleague's toes and I don't wish to impose further."

"Call me José, and please allow me to do that in person."

Normally, she would have dropped the formality with the other person if they requested it first but in this instance, she was determined to remain professional.

"It really is okay, José. A phone call from you is already more than I expected, I really appreciate your gratitude…"

"If you're worried that I'm going to make advances at you, I will be up front and tell you that I am gay." _This guy was truly brutally honest._

"Oh," Anastasia was surprised by the confession she wasn't thinking in that direction at all, she just simply didn't want to do dinner with some stranger that she barely know because it would be awkward, not to say a recipe for disaster since her position wasn't even high enough in the hospital to be influential. "Um, José, my schedule is a little full at the moment, and I am sorry that I must decline your invitation. The duty in the hospital isn't my only duty, I hope you can understand."

"Don't worry, but remember that I owe you, so save my number and please don't ever hesitate to reach out to me when you need to. I will do anything I can to help you. I am calling through my personal cell, so just call this number."

"I will keep this in mind, José. I really appreciate the invite though and I really do regret declining it but my schedule doesn't allow it. I will take the sentiment, however."

"It's you that I need to thank. My father's life is priceless, so I do owe this to you."

"I hope he is doing well."

"He is doing very well in his recovery and rehabilitation. I will be singing your praises to Dr Hall."

Anastasia bit back the urge to inform him that Adam was in Copenhagen and she was due to go back next year, too.

They had a few more courteous exchange before they hang up.

Little did she know, he was the owner of the shipyard that Christian wanted to cooperate with and she would be using that number really soon.

…

True to her words, Ros was not only receiving phone calls on her work phone from the press but she was also hounded by them on the streets. It was like she became a celebrity all of a sudden. She was anticipating the day where they obtained her personal cell and started to blow it up.

She wasn't the only one, despite the tight security measure upgraded and implemented by Barney and Welch over the company phones of the executives and their assistants, some of them who had a greater family background or larger role in the corporation were now being badgered by microphones sticking in their faces.

Ros had already received messages from smaller companies under the umbrella that people were quitting and going on strikes already. She wanted to alert Christian about the development but he was in Baltimore for a last minute trip to visit the headquarters.

The billion-dollar project had started.

Though, the timing couldn't be worse.

What they didn't know was that the chaos in the work place could not even compare with what Anastasia was enduring at the moment.

…

Christian low-key flew to Baltimore and the press had not yet caught wind of his absence in Seattle since they had been focused on investigating on the true character of the CEO of their most influential corporation in the city as well as their employees.

However, Anastasia was as much associated to GEH and its owner as the executives currently on the radar of the media. Her condition was much worse.

Only because she was the girlfriend of the powerful man and up until now, in spite of several rumors spread around the community that the couple had split amiable years ago, neither party made any official confirmation so the public still assumed that they were together.

"Dr Steele!" The press ambushed her outside of her apartment after being threatened to face lawsuit by the hospital security.

"Is it true that Mr Grey is a monster?"

"Does he treat woman harshly?"

"Does he really like to whip women?"

"Young, pale, and brunette in particular?"

Questions after questions were fired at her in her face. Cameras were shoved before her and microphones were nearly stuffed into her mouth, she was sure that people could hear her panting into those mics on the tape.

This was the time when she wished that Sawyer was with her, but the man just got back to work and she felt bad for making him work long hours after recovering fully from an accident so severe.

He had gone through a near-death experience because of his job, she thought he might be hesitant to come back to the same position.

As Anastasia pushed through the crowd with her head bowed, a hand shielding her eyes from the flashlights and the other clutching her purse to her chest tightly, she contemplated on stopping and addressing the crowd once and for all…

But, the shrill of her cell phone in her purse halted all her thoughts.

She rushed to the lobby with the assist of the building security that finally made his way to her through the thick crowd as police cars arrived.

That was when the crowd finally started to dissipate, and she finally got the opportunity to take out her cell to return the missed call.

It was from Taylor.

"Dr Steele, Sawyer will be assigned to you. You will meet him shortly."

Then, the line went dead—as if she had never received a phone call from Jason Taylor.

She stared at her phone and watched the recent call log with Taylor disappear before her eyes.

"Ana," her eyes snapped to the source of the voice. She sent him a pensive smile as she watched him approach her in confident strides in his uniform. It was like nothing had changed.

"Hi Sawyer."

…

"How is Christian doing?"

"He's holding up."

"That's it? That's all you're going to tell me?"

"That's all that I am allowed to disclose."

"Fine. Then, am I still permitted to return to Seattle for Christmas and the New Year?"

"If we take you straight to Montesano from Sea-Tac, then yes."

"I'm like a cargo now?"

"You are Mr Grey's most precious cargo."

Anastasia scoffed.

It was a futile attempt to pry information out of Sawyer but still worth a shot in her defense.

Though, she didn't know why she even cared.

…

Grey had a splendid time in Baltimore that he almost forgot about the storm brewing in Seattle. He went to Taiwan trying to save his company from destitution when the press went crazy about everyone around him—his family, Elena included; siblings, Anastasia and even employees from all levels.

Just anyone that would listen or speak.

Guess he would be spending another Christmas in Asia.

Anastasia, on the other hand, never made it out of Baltimore.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	22. Elena Is Going To Wreak Havoc

_**Elena is Going to Wreak Havoc**_

JANUARY 2016

Elena had been a single parent to young Isaac since last November with the help of Carrick and the aid of Grace, she had been looked up to in the community for looking after her teenage son so well. He wasn't out of line unlike Christian and Elliot growing up and he was very well disciplined.

Too respectful and polite, as some would say. She was seen as the successful mother figure to young Isaac and everyone was singing his praises and commenting on his good manners.

She had successfully hid away all the evidence of her true identity and put on an act for all the social workers and everyone involved in the adoption case that her home was cozy and everything a kid would like. It was a homey place that would surely be welcoming enough for a teenage child.

No one needed to know her true intention for this kid other than her.

And, she had been doing a perfect job at hiding it so far. There was nothing in her house that would even suggest that she was associated with another lifestyle, even her storage in her desktop computer was cleared. Her house was nothing but ordinary.

Her intel from the _other_ community told her that Christian had indeed been contracting subs here and there. Nothing long-term but it was still an indication that he was back in the lifestyle. Unlike his first sub, he returned to following his monogamous motto and only contracted subs that were available.

Truth was, once the media whirlwind struck him full force, he was pulled back into the lifestyle and its appeal to control another person and dictate the other person's life or some aspects of it.

That was one of the many reasons why he refused to establish any sort of communication with Anastasia and why he was so cold with her when he summoned her over to the penthouse for the legal documents. He refused to inform her of his arrival in Baltimore last month and now he was constantly scrolling through their chat history and staring at the pictures she had sent him whenever he wasn't with a submissive.

Landing in Taiwan had brought up all kinds of memories that he wished would lay dormant. The night terrors and visions during the last few days of December were the worst, stirring the memories hidden deep in his mind and most of all, they were nothing pleasant.

If the Taiwanese decided to pull out and Christian's attempt at persuading them otherwise had been futile, then it would mark the first dent on the GEH armor. Albeit, the strikes and employees quitting at smaller companies under GEH subsidiaries were taking a toll on GEH's overall performance.

Meanwhile, Anastasia was making arrangements to head back to Copenhagen.

…

"Adam, I still hate you for dumping that case on me."

"That's Not what I want to hear from you, young lady. I want to know how on earth do those cameramen fend off Taco? He is like a beast, definitely a fearsome thing to behold."

Anastasia rolled her eyes, of course her fellow homosexual colleague was more interested in what's the most entertaining around the world than work during his time-off.

Sawyer didn't follow her oversea, he was required to be on standby when she returned and also to assist Taylor and the rest of the security team in battling or warring with Elena. Much like the rest of the team members, he was confused and did not at all understand why the boss refused to enlist help, not even from his parents; he wished to endure the pain and the suffering alone. And in Sawyer's perspective, that was brave.

"Okay, we're not talking about what's going on in the States, you need to update me on what's going on here."

"Nothing's going on. Nothing remotely interesting compared to what you've been through. Girl, you have no idea how many people were made celebrities in the last few months."

"Just a couple of months ago…" she muttered to herself. "Do I have any mails?" She questioned before he could speak again, effectively interrupting him before she lost her shit and snap at him for being his usual nosy self.

"Mails?" Adam stared at her incredulously, "woman, you are in Europe, that ain't your permanent residence, what do you expect?"

"I was gone for a decent few months, and you were supposed to be in charge of my housekeeping."

"Well, I raided your fridge."

"You told me that," she snapped with an eye roll and pinched the bridge of her nose. The pressure from the fiascos back in the States were really weighting down on her and she was feeling the effects of it now. Her patients were thin recently and she would apologize to people when she was in a better mood; she rarely was.

"Okay," Adam placated, sensing that she was about to really explode and his usual flirty self was getting on her nerves. "Newsletters from the science magazine that we're required to subscribe to. Nothing else."

"Do you think the press from the US would find my address here and start to harass me here? My parents were already catching wind of my supposed involvement with Christian even though they were angry at the people smearing his name."

"If they are really looking for you, hell yes. They will find you anywhere you hide unless you change your identity and actually fall off the face of the Earth. The press are relentless, you know that. You were under the spotlight for two years, three years already?"

"No, just that few months when I first started dating Christian."

"Still, you should know them. When are you going back?"

"After the report with my team is concluded and submitted."

"Are you moving back?"

"Probably," she groaned, having another thing to consider. She had not yet decided what she was going to do. She did promise verbally that she would be putting on a definite hiatus on research on the brain and return to Baltimore for a few years, and she did think about spending a total of at least three years researching. She was truly intrigued by the experiments they did here, and she really wished to commit fully for a long period of time but her duty as a doctor back in the States was restricting her. "I don't know."

"You have time, you know. You don't have to stick with researching now, especially since you are such a remarkable anesthesiologist. You can step out of the OR after a couple of decades and then come back here for this research facility or join some other ones that are more significant."

"I don't know, I feel like everything has been turned upside down since last October. I didn't even get the chance to go back to Seattle to spend Christmas and New Year with my friends and family, though I doubt my parents will want me there since they like their two-people world. I could've been with Kate and her family."

"Why didn't you go?"

"The press, obviously! I was under the impression that it wasn't safe for me to return since I am such a _high profile_ person," she rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I only dated Christian, that doesn't make me any different, but people keep coming to me to ask questions about him and I can't even snap at them and tell them that we've broken up because that's not public knowledge."

"Why don't you go public with the split?"

"Because I don't want to add more shit to Christian's already overflowing plate. He has been dealing with the media hounding him everywhere he turned since October and you can imagine how it will go down if the news of us confirming our break up come out."

"You need to get rid of those people on your back though, and telling them that you've broken up is a good strategy. At least, they'll stop harassing you since they know that you haven't been with him for a couple of years."

"No! I would never do that to him. No matter what, I still owe him my career. He is the one that supported me because my parents didn't exactly like it that I study medicine."

"Stockholm Syndrome?"

"No! Oh my god, he didn't hold me hostage okay?" Anastasia groaned. "He really is a good man at heart, and he is just being targeted because he's made too many enemies in the world since he's too talented. People are jealous of him and his successes."

"So what if someone asked you about him, and whether you're going to support him or ditch him, what will you say?"

"Of course I am going to aid him anyway I can," she stared at him incredulously. "Not because I owed him my career because I will be forever grateful for him, he pulled me up and got me to stand on my feet when I am struggling. But, because I do believe that he is not the man the media likes to portray him as, and I do care about him, so of course I will do my best to support him and clear his name."

"What if he doesn't want your help?"

"He will want all the help he can get, and that really isn't much because the media has turned the whole world against him."

"Not the world, just the American public."

"Did you not see the news this morning? He just lost a huge deal because some Asian, or Taiwanese didn't want to continue to work with some guy who's into kinky sex. And, that last part is only an allegation that spurred from rumors flying around the street!"

The more Anastasia said the more she was frustrated and angry about the entire situation and the more she wanted to rip Elena apart with her bare hands. She had seen all the reports and articles on her, and it was obviously her behind this entire media uproar.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore, Adam," she sighed, shutting him up.

"Did you have a good time in Baltimore then?"

"I still don't understand why the Rodriguez men came to Maryland of all places for their treatment. I mean, Baltimore is such a small city compared to New York, and they're so influential across the nation, they could've gone to some other hospitals like I don't know, the hospital affiliated to Columbia University."

"They've actually been a huge donor to Wash U because Senior's late wife was from that school."

"Oh, she died?"

"She's been dead for a while now. It made the news a few years back when she dead because they held the grandest funeral for her."

"Really?"

"You've got your nose stuck in the books, of course you don't know."

"Well, yeah… you've got that right. But, still, I mean they're so rich."

"Yeah, trillions." That was an exaggeration but she got the point.

"Holy shit, really! Oh my god, no wonder people hover over him the moment something happens. Or some machine beeped. It was like the president is here or something. I swear I had no idea what they are."

"Which is why I recommended you."

"You don't have to bluff about me and put me up on a pedestal you know? It makes me nervous because I ain't that good."

"Oh, trust me, that surgery isn't something complicated, it's just taking a long time because the whole process required that long to finish. I've seen his profile and he's got nothing major, he's just old and consumed too much alcohol in his early years that damaged his organs."

"Are you sure? He sure as hell didn't look like some guy who can survive a brutal operation. He looks fine on paper but damn, he appears to be so weak when I actually saw his MRI."

"Yeah, his brain is a problem. He just doesn't feel the symptoms but he has a high risk of suffering from strokes and all that brain related disease."

"That's what I saw from his profile which is why I have been so hesitant on the medication, but apparently his doctor from New York told me that his brain is fine?"

"That doctor is shit because he's not a neurologist."

"He's a family doctor?"

"No. Well, he used to be."

"I saw a neurologist there though."

"That's the doctor I recommended him to see in that hospital. He's the best there."

"Yeah, he actually reads and understands the MRI scan."

Adam let out a throaty laugh. "The root of his problem lies within his liver, but his symptoms are the epitome of cardiovascular disease."

"No kidding," Anastasia agreed, it was also the conclusion that she had reached. "So, why are they operating on his liver?"

"It's a transplant."

"How much is he getting?"

"Just a small corner. He only need that much to sustain his health, his body will reject it if we put more in it."

"But that won't improve his cardiovascular system."

"No, but that guy won't quit drinking and smoking. And, surprisingly, his lungs are perfectly healthy."

"Good genes, perhaps."

Adam laughed and Anastasia joined him. That was more like a regular conversation between two doctors, they talk shit about the patient and complain about the trickiness of some of the illnesses they were facing. That was just venting because most of their anger were directed at the family members and not at the patient, because their families were usually the harder ones to deal with.

A good doctor was always professional at work but actually hates it when they were met with a complicated case, they were just really good at hiding their true feelings.

"And, guess what?" Adam gasped as he suddenly remembered something.

"What?" Anastasia glanced at him showing no interest in whatever he was about to announce.

"José called me, the younger one," he began slowly.

"Okay," her facial expression hadn't change and her tone was still flat and dull.

"He said you saved his father's life."

"Keep going," she stared at him and said dryly.

"He keeps saying that he wants to thank you but you won't accept any of it."

"Yeah, should I?"

"No, I understand that, because I wouldn't have accepted any of the gifts from a patient's family just for doing my job. I get that. It's the ethic code for a doctor."

"They are practically strangers for us. We never remember the faces of those patients we just remember their diagnosis and the treatment if it's really tricky or out of the ordinary."

"Exactly, and I totally get that. If some patient isn't my friend or that I know them personally, I would've think they have some ulterior motives to befriend us or something."

"Okay, so what were you saying?"

"He mentioned that he knows your boyfriend."

"Ex," Anastasia corrected.

"Either way, your lover." She rolled her eyes knowing that Adam, like all the other hopeless romantics in her life, would never accept that they were no longer together or dating. "And, he was wondering if he could take the two of you out for a meal, and then I told him that you're in Copenhagen with me."

She scowled at him for providing such an intimate piece of information for some completely stranger to her. Again, he ignored her studiously.

"So, he said…"

"Wait… why the fuck would you give out my location to some stranger?"

"He's totally trustworthy, trust me, Ana. He and his father were credible businessmen and they are human unlike other people in their industry. They are just as worthy of your trust as your lover."

It didn't ease her scowl but she allowed him to carry on.

"Get to your point."

"So, he asked me to treat you to some fancy place in Copenhagen, anywhere of your choosing and the bill is on him!" Adam announced excitedly.

"Can I decline it?"

"Nope, because I've already gave him my word and told him that I'd take you out."

"Like a date?"

"Oh, god no. I'd never want to step on Grey's toes. That man loves you to no end and I'd never dare try anything to take you away from him."

"Because you have a crush on him? Is that why you've been swatting guys away from me?"

"Maybe and no, that's just me playing the role of a dutiful guardian."

"Adam," Anastasia warned sternly.

"It's true."

Huffing, Anastasia gave up on grilling him despite being dissatisfied with the answers he was giving him.

"Whatever you say, I'll just note down this supposed expensive dinner as your treat."

"Sure," Adam agreed readily.

She still had her doubts, obviously, because a part of her was still hang up on the favor that he allegedly owed her. For some reason, she was convinced that she might need his help and cash in on that favor in the future.

…

"I am really sorry, Ros," Christian was actually apologizing to his second-in-command for failing to save the deal with the Taiwanese.

"It's just a dent," Ros appeased. "If we get the deal with Baltimore then we can more than make up for this loss."

That billion-dollar project.

It was still on-going but the progress had been slow. Evidently, the continuous hit that his reputation had sustained since October had been affecting the opinions other businessmen held about him. It was frustrating him because all that had been reported was his personal life and there were so many more businessmen with crazier and filthier personal life than him.

They drink, they cheat and some of them were kinky or borderline abusive to their trophy wives, but none of that were reported and some rumors circulating around the industry was enough to make people pull out of his business.

That must be the works of Elena.

Her talks with some more powerful trophy wives or girlfriends were enough to convince those smaller companies to protest.

Still, that wasn't the worst.

…

"Sir," Taylor's voice came from above him as he lifted his eyes to meet his. They were currently on his jet heading back to Seattle from Taiwan after the failure on his part to persuade them to maintain the partnership. He had plans to acquire the company but now all bets were off.

"Do I want to know what you're going to tell me?" Christian sighed dejectedly, he had had enough surprises coming from Elena to last him a lifetime and he didn't know how many more could he sustain. The look on Taylor's face was enough to tell him that he wouldn't want to hear it unless he was on the verge of dying.

This gave him another idea all of a sudden. He could actually just give up. His company and all of his assets were left in capable hands and under Anastasia's name, he didn't have to worry about anything.

"No, but you'll have to hear it because we are landing in a few hours and we will have to come up with a plan."

"Okay, what is it then?"

"Elena met up with some of your previous submissives," Taylor took out the tabloid and showed him the grainy security footage of Elena entering a small cafe and sliding into a booth with three brunette women.

"Even my current one is scheming with them?" He snarled when he saw his current submissive walking pass the booth seemingly oblivious to the table. "I was told that you have vetted her completely."

"She is not part of the 'sub club' as they call it conveniently. I think they have other names but I don't know the official one."

"I don't give a fuck how they call themselves. They signed an NDA from me and now they're breaking them."

"You never specifically forbid them from communicating with one another after the contract ends."

"What is Jessica doing there?" He demanded about his current submissive. She was contracted just before Christmas and after the rumor of him being a kinky bastard came out. He was hyperaware of the number of subs he engaged with because if he ran through them too quickly, the rumors would only be confirmed by his actions.

"That cafe is apparently a block down from her workplace and it is the place where she gets her coffee every morning before work."

Christian nodded, accepting the explanation. He had instructed Sawyer to tail his current submissives, and when he wasn't available when he was with Anastasia, he would hire someone temporarily. Elena, however, was always monitored but that really didn't yield any desired results.

"So, what are they talking about?"

"Elena promised them a future either with you or with money if they agreed to expose your lifestyle."

"Expose me? I have insurance on them," Christian frowned but one glance at Taylor and he knew exactly what trap he had walked into. Perhaps it was coincidence that Elena was clearing her history and house for the adoption inspection and he just chose that time to search her house, but it surely wasn't a coincidence that she was so confident in blackmailing and threatening him. "Fuck!"

"Normally, I would say that these women wouldn't be so stupid to think that you would ever look at them again, let alone be with them or have any association with them in the future. Surely they all watch the news, especially news regarding you," Taylor was hinting toward the reports on his love life, namely with Anastasia, and he knew there was no way he could think about another woman like he did her. Even though they weren't talking right now, his feelings for her never changed and he was confident that she hadn't harbor hatred or any sort of dislike for him for not communicating from the cake that she made him on his birthday and the report from Sawyer on the necklace with his key.

"So, what are you saying?"

"I have asked Barney and Welch to dig into their records, and there were records of them being admitted into… facilities."

Christian glared at him for being vague this time of all times. He knew that he had more than just three submissives in the past, and he didn't have the means to monitor them yet, so he was just going to trust them to abide by their NDA and contract.

"They were diagnosed with mental illnesses, according to the paper."

"Mental illness? Was that before me or after me?"

"Leila has a family history of being mentally unstable," Christian cursed for not vetting those women more thoroughly. He didn't have the sentience to do so since he wasn't some important businessman back then, he was just someone starting his empire.

"What about the other subs that I had?"

"The other two are now married and very content with their current circumstances."

"So, it's just the younger ones," Christian concluded. He had five in total and there were two women that were specifically into this lifestyle for the sex and the pleasure, they weren't looking for anything more than Christian could offer, and they were emotionally more mature. He could still remember that one of them actually came to him to terminate the contract before their time was up because she had met a guy and wanted to try more with him.

"Yes, they are more unstable," Taylor sighed. The three that were younger than Christian easily grown attached to the young man, and they were attracted to his enigmatic personality. All of his submissives before Anastasia were introduced by Elena and the older two women were genuinely using Elena as their proxy but not the younger three.

"Do they all have some sort of mental disease?"

"They claimed… according to the records that Barney hacked from the doctor's computer, they were depressed after you terminated their… arrangements. At least that was what Susannah and Rebecca said."

"What was going on with Leila?"

"Her family is a bit more complicated than the other two," Taylor admitted. "She grew up with parents constantly in all sorts of rehab, and the psychiatrist she met with added a side note stating that they suspected that she might be a little delusional and thus becoming manipulative."

"She went to a doctor?"

"She confessed that she was forced to go to a mental facility because Susannah and Rebecca urged her to after seeing her out of ordinary behavior. She claimed to have gone crazy after seeing your pictures with Dr Steele."

"Has she gone after Ana?" Christian's focus was instantly removed from the shit associated with himself. He would always worry about her no matter their relationship status.

"No, not yet."

"What is that supposed to fucking mean?"

"From the recording that Elena's tail sent through, she was trying to get Susannah and Rebecca on board to sabotage Dr Steele's career. The other two women refused."

"They have _recovered_?"

"They were no longer depressed, but their feelings for you… still hasn't waned. They are still very fond of you. So, she turned to Elena. Your NDA didn't state specifically that they weren't allowed to communicate with Elena after the contract ended."

"Fuck me…"

"I think that is why they are so easily persuaded to come onboard Elena's ship."

"What does Elena want them to do again?"

"She reassured them that she will have the insurance picture wiped clear of their identities but stamp the date to some time more recent."

"What exactly did she promise them? I still don't understand why they are so willing to cooperate with her to sabotage my career."

"Leila just want to seek revenge because she, like Elena, knew that she couldn't have you to herself again, so simply speaking, she wouldn't allow Dr Steele to have you either."

"Well, as you can see, we aren't even talking," Christian deadpanned bitterly.

Taylor studiously ignored that sardonic jab and continued his narration. "As for the other two, they really just want money since they are working as escorts at the moment to survive."

"Escorts? They were fine when I contracted them."

"That was because they were in college and they had their parents, but both of their parents died over the years."

"Do you think Elena has anything to do with their deaths, just so the two girls would turn to her and be her puppets?"

Taylor studied his boss closely, he had thought through this entire conversation very carefully before approaching the young man, he was already alerted by his therapist that Christian still had a fragile psychology and it could snap easily at any given time. Taylor had seriously pondered on how he was going to reveal the information, granted it would be a much better option if he didn't have to.

"Okay, I'm being paranoid," Christian whispered to himself. He was starting to feel out of control, like he had been feeling for the last couple of months. Even the submissives couldn't tame his desire to regain control.

That was what his therapist had warned Taylor about—Christian was losing his mind.

"Listen, we have until the plane lands to figure out a solution," Taylor told Christian trying to steady the businessman with no avail.

"Until we land?" Christian yelled. "We can't do shit on this plane!"

"Elena has instructed the girls to leak the contract on the internet by midnight, so just a few hours before we land."

"What are we supposed to do with this intel? We can't possibly stop all social media posts."

"You're right, we can't. Which is why I am asking you to think."

"What are you suggesting?" Christian was now up and pacing about the length of his private jet, his furious facial expression was sending his flight attendant into hiding. There was no point in hiding his secret from anyone now, because it was going to be broadcasted over the internet in less than twelve hours.

"You can still use your parents' connection and take one step ahead of Elena."

"By what?"

"Getting her and the girls arrested."

"For what?"

"Blackmail."

"I don't have enough evidence."

"You don't need enough evidence to have them detained."

"What if Elena has fucked the police department head and he's addicted to her pussy and would do anything she asked?" Christian was going out of his mind and he seriously thought he was becoming like a paranoia once the words left his mouth. He needed to talk to his therapist soon, and get diagnosed, because he could already imagining him admitting himself into some psych ward in the heat of a moment.

"Christian," Taylor sighed, now acting as a friend rather than an employee. "You need to calm down?"

"Calm down?" He all but screamed back at Taylor who was still seated. "What does that even fucking mean? Do you have any idea what is about to happen to me? What that means once my lifestyle is exposed?"

"We still have a chance to take her down before she takes you down," Taylor reasoned. "If you just employ your parents' and your siblings' and everyone's resources by letting them into the truth that will be publicized either way, they can petition for the arrest for Elena and the girls. I have buddies in the police department."

"What if that doesn't work?"

"FBI."

Christian shook his head. He was seriously considering this option because it seemed like the only legit option without exposing himself to the public first. However, the reservations he held over coming clean to his family still existed.

"How can we get the FBI involved? There's no case, nothing."

"I know people. I have connections. So does Welch, and Barney even if he doesn't have a military background he was once in the FBI. Sawyer was once in the CIA, he's got more people at his disposal. Christian, you didn't employ a bunch of people with no social standing."

"I know that I've got the best people."

"Yes, your lawyers can also help you."

"Do you think my dad would even look at me much less believe my bullshit about Elena because I do recall removing him as my lawyer and assigning one the one from GEH to overlook my personal affairs."

"He is your father, so yes, he will. I am confident in that."

"No, this resolution isn't solid enough. I need a much better plan than this."

"We don't have time, Christian."

"Then, how do you expect me to tell my parents about all those shit. Given that Elena wasn't actually with them and is with her little submissive."

…

Christian was pensive about everything and as hours ticked by, he felt like he was sitting on a ticking time bomb. Taylor had sensed his agitation and he almost phoned the Grey manor to inform them of the sordid history of their dear friend himself.

It wasn't even midnight in Seattle yet, but they were too late, once again.

"Sir," Taylor called apprehensively, even his voice shook a little at the intel he just received. They were due to land in a couple of hours.

"What?" Christian snapped, scenarios of how his parents or family would react was still circulation in his mind in rapid speed.

"They're not sticking to their agreed schedule. The girls changed their minds."

"What are you talking about?"

"Leila's contract was publicized. Two more are coming… very soon."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	23. When Shit Hits The Fan

_**When Shit Hits the Fan**_

_"They're not sticking to their agreed schedule. The girls changed their minds."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"Leila's contract was publicized. Two more are coming… very soon."_

"Say that again?"

…

"Ana, I need to ask you something. Very quick," it was rare for Kate to call her instead of FaceTime. There really was no difference in the communication method other than one was a video call and another was a voice call, both didn't require extra payment.

"Okay…" Anastasia could hear the urgency in her friend's voice but she had enough to worry about so she didn't make a comment or ask questions. She just brushed away the oddness and edginess in Kate's tone.

"I need a pen name, and you have to help me come up with one."

"I thought you said this is an emergency."

"It is!" Kate snapped. "Just, think!"

"Okay, hold your horses."

"I've got no time for humor, Steele!"

_Jesus, where's the fire?_

"Does it has to be derived from your name in anyway shape or form?"

"No, but that could be useful. I am going crazy here."

"When's the deadline."

"Like in a few minutes. I've gone through everything, edited it and everything, I just need a pen name."

"Why?"

"No time to explain. Are you helping me or not?"

"I am, I am…" Anastasia said quickly and her mind immediately went into motion. Sometimes it was better if one was in a calmer environment to think of something, and clearly Kate was in a state of panic.

"What have you come up with?"

"Kav? You know, in short of your last name."

"No, I need something more authentic."

"Do you need a full name?"

"No."

"Then, just use a random name generator or something. You find those shit online in a snap."

"Not helping."

"Okay, I'm thinking."

"I was thinking about just writing Kate, but that's like as close to my real name."

"Oh, how about Katelyn?"

"Which spelling?"

"Whichever you want, it doesn't really matter."

"Okay, I'll go with the one that's the furthest away from my actual name."

"Starting with the C?"

"No."

Anastasia mentally spelled out of the version—Kaetlyn.

…

The editor droned on and on about the rules and regulations for scientific publications and she was only interested in the applying for patent part of this conference. Anastasia and another senior member of her team were sent to this conference to prepare for their upcoming publication and possibility of applying for a patent.

She had no idea about patents and the process to obtain them and everything, so she didn't argue when she was sent to this boring ass lecture. The only thing they did so far was sit and listen to people talk with heavy accents. It really was draining her energy and her patience was already very thin these days.

This information forum was seriously testing her and challenging. Though, the colleague next to her didn't seem any better.

Right now, Anastasia was praying to receive a call from anyone, even if it was just a fraud or some advertisements. It would give her an excuse to step outside, and if she had to, she would even humor that fraud or whatever salesperson just to keep a conversation and pretend that she was busy on an important phone call.

Fortunately, someone from above answered her prayers.

"Oh shit," she turned to her Danish colleague and sent her an apologetic look after being jump startled by the vibration of her phone. "I really need to take this, it's from home. I'm sorry," she explained meekly and squeezed out of her row.

It was truly from Seattle, but the other person on the phone made her regret ever praying for a phone call. She was hoping for some salesperson or even the press that had somehow obtained both her US number and Danish number, but it was nothing entertaining.

"Dr Anastasia Steele?" A man said and he sounded really serious. She was desperate enough to answer an international call that would probably charge her more than she was willing to pay for, but that just reflected how boring the speech that she was forced to sat through actually was.

"This is she," Anastasia breathed out a sigh of relief when she was finally greeted with the familiar accent that she grew up with—he was a local from the West Coast. "I'm sorry, you have me at a disadvantage."

"I am Mr Grey's lawyer and I am calling on behalf of him."

"What's going on? Did something happen to him?" Now this phone call really got her attention. She glanced back at the lecture hall and started to make her way outdoor so no one could listen to her conversation.

"You are Mr Grey's emergency contact, power of attorney and sole beneficiary of everything he leaves behind."

"Wait, hold on. Who are you?"

"My name is Burt Whitmore, and I am the head of legal department at Grey Enterprises Holdings."

"Oh," Anastasia had never heard of this guy before, never seen him around the executives and the name had never been mentioned in her presence. She was under the impression after being told by Christian that Carrick was his lawyer not some guy unrelated to him. Though it could just be her not remembering the names from when she signed all the documents because she was just so overwhelmed at the time.

"The changes had only been made a few months ago," Burt explained sensing Anastasia's hesitation. "You can call Taylor to confirm my identity and the information I am about to relay to you."

"Mr Whitmore, you really are scaring me right now. Is he hurt?"

"No, not physically."

"Mr Whitmore, I need you to get to the point. I am in the middle of a meeting," right now, all she wanted to do was hang up and pretend like she had never received this phone call.

"I apologize for interrupting, but I regret that I have to inform you that you will not be returning to that meeting. You are required to fly straight back to Seattle. The jet will be waiting for you at the airport."

"What is going on, Mr Whitmore?"

"I cannot disclose the information over the call, we have to meet in person. Taylor can confirm your traveling arrangement."

"Will he be able to provide me with more information?"

"I'm afraid not."

"What?" Anastasia whispered.

"Good day, Dr Steele. I will see you soon," Burt said briskly in a clipped tone.

"Okay… bye?"

"Goodbye."

The line went dead immediately after the last syllable. There wasn't even time for her to step back into the building to look for her colleague and inform her of the development when her phone rang in her hand. This time it was from Taylor.

"Please tell me I got a call from some fraud," she dove straight in.

"Who called you?"

Anastasia nearly sagged in relief at that question, so it was a fake then.

"Someone named Burt Whitmore? Said that he's Christian's lawyer. I thought the lawyer is Carrick."

"Oh, that's not a fraud," Taylor quipped and she inhaled the breath that she exhaled earlier.

"This guy isn't bluffing, then?"

"No, I'm afraid not." She was starting to hate this phrase.

"Okay… so," she paused, "what the fuck is going on?" She fired. "That guy didn't tell me shit and was super cryptic over the phone."

"Head to the airport, Ana. The jet is taxing to the hanger."

"Can you be a bit more specific about what it is that needs me in person so urgently?"

"Christian needs you."

"I was told that he wasn't hurt."

"He wasn't, not physically."

"And, what does that fucking mean? I can't just take off because I am in the middle of getting a report published and me and my team has been looking forward to this moment for ages. If I get patented, I will be recognized as one of the highest paid doctors on the East Coast." Anastasia rambled, she wasn't trying to be ignorant, inconsiderate, and overall not helpful; she was simply in denial. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and she felt like she had entered some sort of twilight zone where everything was so surreal.

"You can and you will," Taylor told her forcefully. "I understand your reservation and hesitation, but it is your duty as the woman who is the sole beneficiary for millions of dollars to drop everything and return to home turf."

She couldn't remember how she ended the phone call or if she had uttered another word because the next thing she knew was Taylor's clipped tone informing her that Sawyer would be waiting at her apartment for her to collect her things. He also mentioned that anything she left behind would be shipped back, even though she had already boxed everything.

Millions of dollars.

That meant they had activated Christian's contingency plan. If she had understood that plan correctly when it was explained to her.

Not that she would ever need that much money under her name. The last time she checked, other than the half a million sitting in the bank making profit out of interest, and the account for the car which had already went beyond the goal she had initially set. She wasn't a woman in need of money, in fact, she was well on her way to reach a million in all of her possessions.

…

"Is the press conference still on as scheduled?" His head of PR asked tentatively wanting to get out of the air-tight space before he actually suffocated.

"Yes, just review and edit it before airing it."

"Not live?" The guy frowned.

Christian sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. The pressure of life was starting to break him and he had never felt this way, not even when he first started his company. He probably sounded like a madman some of the times and he knew that he had been saying stupid things and making stupid comments like this one.

"No, live, please," he dismissed the executive quickly and took several deep breaths in attempt to pull himself back together. He just wanted to regain a semblance of control or else he felt like he would break completely.

He was already on the verge.

…

With a very conflicting mind, she shot a vague text to Adam, the only person she trusted in Copenhagen and asked him to relay the message to her team that a personal emergency came up that she had to leave, if they didn't receive her email notice.

"Should I take everything I can or just the essentials?" Anastasia waved a hand over the boxes that were all over the place but actually well organized if closely examined. She _was_ preparing to move back to the States and she had already announced it to the necessary, otherwise she wouldn't be told that she couldn't keep this apartment so she had to clear it out.

"Are you all packed?" Sawyer asked, mentally sizing up all the items. It was a decent amount but necessary for someone who had been here for more than a year.

"Yes," Anastasia looked around and replied confidently. She had checked the bathroom and the bedroom again because Taco might've picked some stuff out of the box just to move it somewhere else. Thankfully it was a small area.

"It will be shipped over to Escala in the next few days, just bring the essentials and don't worry about it. I need your keys though," he held out his palm and she momentarily spotted the long scar running down his arm stemming from the palm. She placed the keys in them and peered up at him.

"Does it still hurt?" She broke that awkward moment where both of them noticed the obvious evidence of that car accident.

He shook his head and requested her to drop the subject.

"Thank you for protecting Christian, I'm glad that you were there."

"I'm just doing my job, Ana," he relayed with soft eyes but clearly wanted to get the topic over with. Taking the hint, she dutifully dropped the subject and handed him the bags and picked up her own.

"Do you know what is going on?"

"Have you seen the news lately?"

"No," she sighed, she had been too busy and if Adam didn't update her on some stuff she would be totally blind sighted to some changes in the medical field or procedures in the hospital. She never stayed tuned to broadcasts of any kind. "And, I turned off my Google Alert since October because it has been blowing my phone up."

"Did the press ever find out your Danish number?"

"No, but did you guys do something about my US number? And why did Christian's lawyer have my Danish number?"

"Taylor gave it to him, and both of your numbers are written on the forms. And, yes, we have done _something_ about your number."

"Elaborate a little on that something."

"We have been fielding and monitoring your calls, so anyone that's related to the press will be blocked."

"Why can't you just let me change my number?" She got into the car recalling the conversation they had the last time they met, where she made a casual comment about changing her number only to be protested by Sawyer.

Her mind was all over the place that she didn't even realize that all of her stuff would be going to Escala and she would probably also end up there.

It would be awkward to say the least. Still, it wasn't like she had a place to go other than her parents' if she was in Washington. She would crash at Ethan's but she didn't want to intrude on his life, especially if he was still seeing Mia.

However, at that moment, she was truly lost.

"Your number is very crucial. It is associated with Mr Grey's will, and you are his emergency contact at everything. So, if they can't get ahold of him or if something happened to him that he is unable to make a sound decision, you are the next contact."

"Why isn't Taylor the emergency contact?"

"Taylor doesn't know everything about him."

"I know even less about Christian. At least, Taylor has worked for him for four years and I've only dated him for one, with us faking the first half."

"You know the more intimate details. His passwords for instance. Taylor didn't know his bank account codes, and he couldn't get the active code using his number, because it would be sent to you if he chose to retrieve password."

"I still don't understand why he is leaving everything to me. I am not related to him in anyway."

"That is exactly the reason why he is leaving it to you."

"What?"

"His family is accessible by Elena, easily, because he refused to tell them the truth. Taylor, me, Barney, Welch or other GEH people are all associated to him through employment, so it is easier for assholes and bitches to hold some leverage against us since we work for him. You, however, aren't associated with him in anyway shape or form on paper. In spite of your intimate relationship and tabloid limelight, theres nothing to hold against you since there isn't legitimate tangible proof that you guys are related in any way."

"This shit is too complicated," Anastasia blew out a breath after drawing in one deeply. "Am I correct to assume that I am not coming back here for a very long time?" She asked, her chin resting on the back of her hand as she stared out of the window, trying to memorize every detail of the city until her next visit.

"I cannot say for sure," Sawyer answered evasively.

…

Christian made his way to the elevator with Taylor, Andrea and his head of public relations. He didn't know if he was nervous for the press conference, it was his first one, but lately, he hadn't been feeling much emotions or acknowledging much of them.

They were heading to the largest media room in the GEH building, one that was usually reserved for a product release and introduction with the press. Those did not involve him so he never had a reason to step foot into the room. Though, he had the pleasure of using some smaller sized media room for propaganda and advertisements that required his presence.

Overall, he hated the entire fourth floor because that was the only floor opened to public and exposed to the press. He felt like it was a floor for operation rooms in hospitals. The walls were white and the décor was cynical. It was just rooms waiting to be decorated to fit the occasion. Normally, the GEH logo would always be at the back of the tables as a background and forbidden to be covered.

"Are you ready?" The head of PR asked before leading Christian through the entrance held opened by Taylor with Andrea following behind them.

"Sure," Christian muttered, he was so not stoked for this press conference. He could already feel the anxiety building up inside of him but he pressed it down forcibly.

"Christian, listen," Taylor pulled him aside, forgetting all the formalities and his contract and paychecks, he stared at the young man like a father to his son. "The media is wild about this and if you really aren't prepared, don't do it. The ball is in your court, you get a choice."

Christian nodded mutely, his eyes darted to the door and the exit behind him. He was tempted to be the coward and chicken out. Truthfully, Taylor wouldn't think of him as a pussy for backing out of this because this was his first time in granting a press conference to address the scandal related to his personal life. Half of his lifestyle was already out in the open and Taylor knew that it was only a matter of time before the insurance pictures came out, because Mrs Lincoln wasn't a woman to keep her word.

"How are you actually feeling?" Taylor asked, he could hear John Flynn, the therapist, talking in his earpiece. He called the doctor earlier asking him to be on standby knowing that Christian might not be able to take it all.

"Psyched," Christian murmured sarcastically, and pushed past him through the door, deciding to get the show on the road. He just wanted the press off of people's back, especially Anastasia's; she was his only hope in preserving his empire but he didn't know that at the moment.

"Mr Grey!"

"Mr Grey, over here!"

The lights from the cameras immediately went off rows after rows. At that moment, he wished he was wearing sunglasses.

When his PR head stood up from his seat, everyone in the room surprisingly quieted. Maybe that was how press conferences work? Christian had zero experience with anything press related, and he wished to remain that way, thought it was hard for him not to glance around and take in the humongous setup in the room.

There was literally no room for anything, not even a tiny foot to step through the door.

He swore he could see one of the cameraman pressed up against the door with the gigantic equipment propped up before him and his neck craned in a very awkward angle trying to view the screen.

Nothing was going through his mind and he didn't know if his mind went blank because of his nervousness or simply because he just wasn't capable of feeling anymore.

"On behalf of the CEO and owner of Grey Enterprises Holdings, Christian Grey…" the voice of his head of PR boomed over the microphone before him as he read out the statement word for word just like they had rehearsed.

Christian couldn't focus on a single thing because he was feeling really numb from head to toe, and he was failing to distinguish whether that numbness was just a feeling or he was physically being electrocuted.

…

Meanwhile, when Christian was under the inquisition of the entire world. Anastasia stepped out of the elevator to the top floor where Christian and the other executives' offices were. No one greeted her, which was very unlike her usual visits.

_Then again, the invitation for this visit was odd._ She reminded herself.

She turned around to look at Luke for further guidance praying that at least one of them what was going on. Or even a hint at what they should do now would be great.

But, seemed like someone pissed on her lucky stars this morning because Luke disappeared into the security room without another word, and all she caught was him closing the door behind him leaving her fending for herself in this grand lobby.

"Dr Steele?" Some blonde woman walked to her in her ankle-twisting high heels and gray pencil skirts—the standard attire in Grey House, as she had gathered. "For Mr Whitmore?"

"Uh, yeah?" Anastasia felt so stupid for even uttering that two syllables, and now she felt even more like a deer caught in headlights instead of some accomplished doctor who was confident in herself and in her career. She had never been like this in Christian's office, so what changed?

"Please follow me to the atrium, Mr Whitmore's office is just down there at the end."

Anastasia stupidly followed the woman feeling like she was here for some sort of interview as a college graduate, all innocent and uncontaminated from this awful world. Well, it was her wish for now, at least. She had never felt so out of place.

"Thank you?" And now, she wasn't even sure if she was speaking the same language as the people here. She swore people that work here lived in an entirely different universe than her. How could she cope so well with Christian? She even dated him for an entire year!

The moment her ass touched the seat in the waiting lounge, it dawned on her why she felt so different this time—she was a visitor instead of the girlfriend of the boss. No wonder people treated her differently because she was here for a different purpose.

She sighed. _Obviously_.

The door opened sharply before her and a man in suit stepped out while buttoning his jacket. Her head snapped up toward the sound in alert, she had no idea who this man was because she had never met this so-called lawyer before. So when he started approach her, she could only assume that he was this Burt Whitmore that she was supposed to be meeting. Also the one who called her when she was all the way over in Denmark.

"Dr Steele," the man greeted her confidently, taking her outstretched hand even though she appeared like she was having some kind of extraterrestrial experience. "Burt Whitmore," the man introduced himself.

_Do men that work closely with Christian all hold themselves in such arrogant manner?_

"Mr Whitmore," she seemed to have finally regained her composure as she returned the handshake like a normal person. "I'm sorry, this whole thing just caught me a little off guard."

"I understand, however, I believe this is a very necessary step."

"I'm sorry, but what is going on? You said you have to tell me in person, so what is so important?"

"Have you watched the news lately?"

"Why is everyone asking me this?"

"Because Mr Grey's private information has been leaked to the public."

"Private information… as in?"

"I believe that you are well acquainted with Mr Grey's… other aspects in life, since you are entrusted with everything."

"Was it exposed?"

"The contracts were put up on to the internet via some social media account but the original account has been subsequently shut down."

"But the documents are already circulating around the internet," she concluded, understanding the underlying meaning behind his vague statement.

"Correct," he nodded.

"So, why am I here?"

"Mr Taylor, Mr Grey's head of security-"

"I know who he is," she interrupted rudely while sending him an apologetic glance but she just really wanted him to get to the point and forget about all formalities.

"He has activated the contingency plan for Mr Grey."

"The contingency plan?"

Anastasia mentally groaned, she really sounded like some idiot retard that had no idea what language she was speaking. If she wasn't under such a seemingly severe circumstances she would've felt the embarrassment sinking in.

"Perhaps you won't remember this small detail but do you recall signing a few legal documents from Mr Grey back in Seattle last year?"

"Yeah? The will, assets, power of attorney and everything like that? Yes, I do remember. Were you there, too?"

"Yes, I had just been appointed as his lawyer instead of his father. That is the contingency plan that Mr Taylor and Mr Welch has formulated."

"I'm sorry but what does it have to do with me?"

"Once we activate the contingency plan, it means that Mr Grey is no long capable of making a sound decision for himself or for his properties, so everything will be in the hands of his beneficiaries. In this case, it is just you because you are the sole beneficiary in his will."

"So, that means he didn't leave anything for his family?"

"No," Burt shook his head. "Everything is yours."

"Wait, so why is he incapable of making any decisions any longer? He's not dead or unconscious, at least according to all of you who told me that he's physically fine."

"He is physically fine and he is currently giving a press conference."

"I'm sorry, what? This is getting more and more absurd."

"Let me start over for you, doctor," the lawyer stated patiently, he had anticipated as much from the tone this young lady held when she first answered the phone. "Since the rumors started to circulate, Mr Grey has been losing deals, and his profits are minimizing due to the damage to his reputation. Now, due to exposure of the contracts, those rumors are being proven to be true, so his reputation took another hit, and subsequently his business."

"So, you all think it's best that I take over so this business isn't associated to him any longer? How do you think I can possibly save this million-dollar company? I am just a doctor."

Burt nodded his head mutely but he maintained his professional stance and refrained from interrupting.

"This company will be moved under your name not for you to take over but to prevent people from legally taking money from it and from him. Your ownership will not be announced to the public."

"Just on a need to know bases?"

"Correct," he nodded his head once. "For example, if Mr Grey is to be blackmailed, he will not have a penny to his name because all of his assets are no longer under his name and so he cannot cooperate. Or, if his family is threatened or demanded to take money from him, it will also be a fruitless attempt."

"So, what do I do with all of the money?"

"You don't have to worry about it. Everything will still the be the same, and managed by the same people. He will still be the CEO. You just have the ownership of property and possession. You can go about your life normally."

"Oh, I see…" she mused, her face already losing color. "So, why can't you tell me this over the phone?"

"Because," the lawyer leaned forward and pushed a stack of papers before her. "You are required to sign a few more documents. Every deeds and bank account transfers."

"Oh god," Anastasia blanched at the thick stacks in front of her.

She knew Christian was rich, and she had an idea of just how much he had in his bank because she had seen his bank statements before, but _this_ was just in a league of their own.

That was how much difference a couple years apart made.

…

"Mr Grey, an article recently published through the New York Times written by Kaetlyn, it was on the topic of BDSM, the lifestyle that you participate in. What is your opinion on the piece?"

"I am not aware of such a published work."

"Do you know of the writer?"

The questions started out subtle and light but it soon took a turn to the brutal and straightforward path. The reporters were pulling out all the stories from years back to make him verify just how much truth there was. Most of the questions were fielded by his head of PR, however the questions regarding the more recent revelations couldn't be avoided. After all, this conference was supposed to be informative about the recent scandal around him.

"No, I do not."

"Mr Grey, an actress tweeted claiming that you have sexually assaulted her in the past, hashtag me too. Do you deny such claim?"

"I do not deny meeting her in person but I do deny the allegation she has accused me of we are merely strangers."

"Mr Grey will not be answering questions regarding said topic, anymore," the head of PR interrupted before the next reporter could ask a question.

"Mr Grey, are you still in a relationship with Dr Steele?"

"No, I am not."

"Are you two friends?"

"No, we are not."

Gasps were heard all over the room from the reporters, and Christian almost wanted roll his eyes at them. True, this was the first time that he had addressed the issue and gave an official answer to his relationship status but he didn't think it would result in such a grand reaction.

"Are you single, Mr Grey? What is your current relationship status?"

"No comment."

The interview went on. Every reporter was literally having a field day throwing questions at the elusive bachelor and learning the details of the private life of the ever exclusive yet elite businessman.

…

In Anastasia's haste to scan over the documents and sign them after understanding the content with the help of Burt, she missed the texts and phone calls from Kate who had been trying to reach her with the utmost urgent update.

When she finally finished signing out all of the documents and let out a sigh did she realize that she had spent hours in here, and Christian had already finished his press conference. She bid farewell with the lawyer and took his name card just to keep in contact with him since she was now technically the owner of this company. It seemed like the guy had some new found respect for this young woman.

"It's nice meeting you in person, Dr Steele," Burt shook her hand and opened the door for her leading her out into the atrium where he instructed his assistant to see her out.

"Thank you for being so patient with me," Anastasia smiled nervously and followed the same blonde that brought her in, out of the space.

Once they had arrived the main lobby of the floor, she gave the assistant a polite smile and told her that she could manage from here. After the assistant left dutifully, she made her way toward the CEO's office. She really just wanted to check on Christian knowing that he probably didn't want to see her, or didn't expect her to be here.

From all the talks that she had exchanged with the loyal lawyer, she could deduce that Christian was probably unaware of the activation of this contingency plan that he didn't even know existed.

Andrea looked up startled at the presence of Anastasia who gave her an equally timid smile.

"He just returned," Andrea offered kindly but there was a hint of sadness in her voice as if the boss had just came back from the battlefield wounded severely. She also noticed that the spot next to Andrea was now empty, the nail-inspecting interns that just never stopped coming in the previous years seemed to have ceased to exist.

_Perhaps he had had enough drama?_

"How is he?"

Andrea just shook her head and didn't respond as she returned to her work before her, leaving Anastasia baffled.

She took a few tentative steps to move herself to the door. It was soundproofed, that much was reassured over the time during their many shenanigans behind it.

However, today, she could hear noises coming from the other side, and the doors were closed tightly.

Anastasia carefully pushed down on the handle and pushed the door open, a tad bit shocked that it wasn't locked. The next thing she knew she was using the door as a shield and ducking from a pen pot flying in her direction. It made contact with the door in the end, she barely escaped the attack.

Her gasp must've gave her away because his back was turned to her before the container wasn't initially going in this direction.

"Christian," Anastasia called out, her voice shaking with fear as she took a better glance at the mess in the office and the man in the middle of it panting with anger. When she looked at his face, she couldn't recognize the man she was seeing. It certainly wasn't her Christian.

It was as if the Christian she knew and loved left the body leaving a shell of a man in this room to wreak havoc.

There were shattered glasses, porcelain, pens, inks, papers, just every stationary and items one could find in a normal office destroyed on the ground. She risked a glance at the empty table surface, there was an empty bottle of whiskey and an empty glass next to it.

That was when the smell of alcohol register in her brain. She thought he was drunk, but she changed her mind when he screamed at her in the top of his lungs and his voice breaking.

"Get the fuck out of my face!"

Suddenly scared shitless, Anastasia retreated and closed the door with shaking hands. She turned around just in time to see Taylor reaching the office, she wanted to approach him with the situation on the other side of that door, but stopped herself when she saw another man momentarily hidden away from her angle behind Taylor.

"This is his shrink," Taylor muttered to a mute Anastasia when he led the brave man to the office door and opened the door for him. She swallowed difficultly and nodded even though none of the men were paying her any attention. The doctor did glance at her but she missed it in her state of trepidation.

She was still shaking from earlier and she didn't even know that tears were falling off of her face until the first drop landed on her sleeve when she reached for the button to summon the elevator numbly.

And, she was forced to sniffle once she registered that she was actually crying. She wasn't even sure if it was out of fear for Christian or scared of the monster she saw inside that wasn't Christian.

…

Taylor rushed open the door just in time to see the low-dose of sedative that his psychiatrist injected taking effect. In his state of madness, he didn't even realize that a needle was coming his way.

In a sense, it made Flynn's job a lot easier.

"Sir," Taylor addressed, Christian was now calm but still conscious. "There's a new development."

"Is it Ana?" Taylor was temporarily stunned into silence at the question. He had no idea when he had even mentioned the name but thought it might be the residual effect of seeing her in person earlier.

"No, but it's about you."

"That's new," he snorted sarcastically.

Ignoring Christian's sardonic attitude, he let on.

"Mrs Lincoln leaked your photos."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	24. Sad Beautiful Tragic

_**Sad Beautiful Tragic**_

_"Mrs Lincoln leaked your photos."_

Instead of behaving like a man that lost his mind like Taylor had anticipated, all life slipped from his eyes. The bodyguard's head snapped at the shrink who gazed at his patient analytically.

"He's gone into shock."

That pair of lifeless eyes and rigid body would haunt Taylor for the rest of his life if this young man didn't flatlined then and there. The experience was worse than he had ever seen considering the brutal nature of the battlefields.

…

It wasn't until she had fished out her phone so she could call Ethan that she realized just how many times Kate had attempted to contact her, and she called back even though she thought Kate might be already be asleep at this hour.

But, the blonde picked up.

This must be really important.

"Kate?"

"You finally picked up. What were you doing?"

"Aren't you supposed to be asleep?" She knew her voice sounded weird even to herself and she was just praying with her fingers crossed that she didn't find out that she was crying.

"Are you crying, Ana?"

"I'm okay," Anastasia sniffed very unconvincingly. "Please, don't ask," she knew there was no point in hiding it from her as fresh tears formed in her eyes. "Just tell me what you need to say," she beseeched in a whisper, "I really don't want to talk about it."

"Okay, well, I just want to tell you that I published an article about BDSM with the purpose to steer people in the right direction and soften the blow for Grey. They are making wrong assumptions about the lifestyle."

"Kate, it really doesn't matter what you write because right now, it is at the peak. No one will listen to what they don't want to listen to. They won't choose to believe it Kate. Though, I am very thankful that you're willing to do this for Christian."

"I've always looked up to Christian, despite him being a jerk in public before meeting you. I've only started to know the real him after you two started dating. He really is not that big of an asshole."

"No, he's not," Anastasia whimpered trying to rein in her tears but they were uncontrollable. "I think your timing is a little bit off. You should've waited a few days before publishing."

"Yeah, I know. I just really want to help, so I kind of panicked. Should've waited for people to at least calm down a bit."

"Yeah…"

…

"Ethan?" She took a deep breath in an attempt to control her sniffles as she walked out of Grey House, vaguely aware of Sawyer tolling behind her.

Glancing around, she recalled the map of downtown Seattle and mentally formed a route for her to take to head to the apartment that she used to share with Kate at Pike Place. That place held so many pleasant memories and she didn't want to taint it with recent experiences.

She needed to take a stroll because the last thing she wanted was to walk into another building just to feel claustrophobic.

"Hey, Ana."

Ethan's chirpy voice did nothing to sooth her aching heart or take her mind off of any of the recent events.

"Is Mia with you?" She didn't even know why her voice was shaking but it might be the result of her crying her eyes out while she was in the elevator and the bathroom in the first floor.

"Ana, are you okay? You don't sound well."

"Just answer me, Ethan," Anastasia stressed, trying her best to steady her breathing and pretend to have a normal voice.

"No, I'm at work."

"Okay, will you be at home alone these days?"

"Ana, you're scaring me."

"Just answer my questions."

"What's going on?"

"Stop asking questions, Ethan! I am going crazy here and I will sound pathetic when I ask you for this huge favor, so please, just answer me to sooth my conscience." She all but pleaded after snapping at him.

"Yes, I will be. Mia decided that we're moving too fast and we should take a break. Her words not mine." She really couldn't care less of their relationship status.

"Okay, so can I crash at your place for the foreseeable future?"

The other line went silence, and in her frightened state, she was automatically jumping to the worst situation.

"I'm sorry if I am intruding, Ethan. I didn't know that you might've moved on."

"No! Ana, no. That's not what I meant, I'm just stunned into silence."

"I'm so sorry, Ethan. I know I am pathetic right now…" Anastasia looked up to the sky, she just couldn't control her tears anymore as they flowed freely down her face as she leaned against the railing facing the water.

"Ana, don't be like that. Tell me what's wrong," Ethan's soft comforting voice was just the trigger to set the floodgate open once more. "Aww… Ana…" he sighed worriedly. "Where are you?"

"Go back to work, Ethan."

"Clearly you need me more at this moment," he told her decisively and she could already hear him packing up. "Where are you?" He asked again, this time in the tone of a brother that wouldn't compromise on the wellbeing of his younger sister.

"Around Elliott Bay, at the railing."

"I'm coming over."

"I want to walk a bit."

"Alright," he took the hint that she wanted to be alone. "Be careful and I will wait for you at the apartment."

"Thank you, Ethan."

"Take care," he pleaded and she nodded before hanging up even though the man couldn't see her promise.

She didn't even get a few minutes' solitude before her phone rang again, and this time it was Taylor. She was tempted to hang up but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

…

Flynn stood up from his seat adjacent to Christian, who had just complete an entire process of a clinical evaluation administered by his psychiatrist.

"Does his power of attorney have to be present for this?" Taylor asked when Flynn told him that he was ready to reveal the results.

"It would be the best."

Anastasia was led into the great room by Sawyer as if she hadn't live here for an entire year and have her name on the deed with her stuff still in the master's bedroom. She felt like a visitor everywhere she went in Seattle nowadays, and it was making her question everything she was feeling.

"Dr John Flynn," Taylor introduced and Sawyer lurked in the background as if Anastasia could be in danger. "Dr Anastasia Steele."

"Just John will do," the posh accent wasn't lost on Anastasia when she shook the man's hand and the look of surprise on his face was also evident.

"Ana," she smiled politely. She wanted to ask what she was doing there but she decided to let the gentlemen in the room take charge. "I'm assuming this is about Christian?"

"Correct, you are here as his power of attorney," Taylor informed and Anastasia visibly shivered knowing that she was about to start living her worst nightmare if not her darkest time.

"I have done a psychological assessment on Christian," Flynn begun after they all rounded the table and sat down. Anastasia was now not only pale but also very worried. "Right now, he does not have any signs of any mental disorder."

"Are you saying that he might have them in the future?" Anastasia couldn't help but interrupt.

"No," Flynn denied. "I am not suggesting that and I am not predicting what is going to happen in the future. I am only speaking about the current situation. He has been my patient for more than half a decade now, so I am very familiar with his mental state. He has weak mind and a very low self-esteem."

"So, he gets depressed easily?"

"Correct," Flynn gave Anastasia an impressed expression but she only shrugged, she did study the brain for a year or two give or take. "What he has experienced with the news of his company crumbling down and his private life being exposed, are just breakdowns and shock. His coping mechanisms since he is a child is to build up walls to separate himself and the danger."

"So, now his walls are tumbling down," the other doctor concluded.

"More or less, you can say that. What Elena has done is just taking his weaknesses and used them against him. I have been trying to get him to alter his thinking and I was making progress. It needs to take maybe up to a decade to build a system for him that is deemed normal because he has never had what is considered as a normal psychological state."

Anastasia nodded in understanding. She could see that when she was with him even though those were only shadows lurking in the dark.

"You are the best thing that has happened to him and he's making more progress than he's ever did."

"I figured as much," Anastasia murmured sadly. "So, what now?"

"As his psychiatrist, I strongly advice to seclude him from real life and start intense therapy to re-build his mentality or keep his sanity."

"Which means?"

"Which means he will be seen as a person who is now incapable of making a decision and thus, activating a few sections in his will."

"Then, what reason do I have for taking over his possessions?"

Flynn turned to Taylor, and Anastasia's eyes followed.

"Are you going to fake his death?"

"No," Taylor instantly shook his head. "No, nothing like that. That is not an automatic process, we are forcing it's activation to protect the properties."

Anastasia nodded, it was the same reply she received from Burt when she met with him earlier.

_This day is just getting better and better._

"Why isn't any of the immediate family members here?" Anastasia suddenly questioned when she realized that none of the people in the room were legally Christian's direct relation.

Taylor fidgeted nervously under the blazing accusing gaze of Flynn. "I vetoed their access to this knowledge."

"Because of… their close relationship with… Elena?" Anastasia guessed the meaningful look Taylor was sending her. He nodded and said no more. "Fair enough," she nodded her head. It really baffled her why Grace and Carrick would be so blind to their so-called best friend's true form. She was too fake and pretentious to be real.

Moreover, Grace entrusted Elena with so many intimate details at home and of Christian, naturally Taylor wouldn't trust this critical information to end up in the wrong hands. Flynn appeared stunned momentarily but quickly schooled in his reaction since it wasn't his place to demand the audience privy of these diagnosis.

…

"Then, what are you going to tell… them? You'll have to meet with them to read them the will." She asked when Flynn announced that he was going to bring Christian to the clinic to start with their therapy or to get to know the situation better, and excused himself.

"There is nothing concerning them in the will," Taylor replied impassively but he thought perhaps Burt was a better person to answer these questions than him.

"Yeah but everything is signed over to me, now. I thought it's some sort of legal procedure. I mean, the will is only announced to related people either when a person's dead or missing then, pronounced dead. This is neither the case."

"So, we don't inform them."

"What are you going to tell them if they decide to make a visit because they can't get ahold of him?" Anastasia hissed. "He has left them shares of GEH, and they need to be informed that they might have to buy those share out from debt."

"That's the worst case scenario. I think it's best if you bring up those concerns to his lawyer."

"Whitmore?"

"Yes, Burt."

Anastasia blew out an exasperated breath and rolled her eyes. She sat back with her arms hugging herself as she waited for the gentleman to appear.

"What happened to the current sub?" She asked absentmindedly, completely taking Taylor off guard.

"Jessica?"

"That's the name? Well, I don't care. Whoever his latest one is called."

"She terminated the contract the moment Leila and the two other girls leaked the contract. She believes that Christian spoiled it."

"Leila? What are the names of the other two?"

"Susannah and Rebecca."

"Sounds like escorts," she scoffed spitefully.

"They are."

"Oh, wow, coincidence. They must be born to do this occupation," she deadpanned sarcastically. "Why am I just hearing this now? Are there other subs that we should be aware of?"

"No, the other two are all vetted. They are married and refused to cooperate when Elena reached out to them."

"Elena reached out to them? She still has contact with those girls that she pimped for him?"

"She created this 'sub club'."

"Oh, all of Christian's subs? Why am I not informed about it?"

"You weren't introduced by Elena," Taylor deadpanned glaring at her. "Seriously, Ana? That's a new low."

"Fine, then what else should I be informed of?"

Taylor used the next couple of minutes before Burt arrived to fill in the blanks for her and, there were a lot of blanks.

"Jesus, I feel like I've been living in paradise in the last couple of years."

…

"What, are you going to blatantly lie in their faces? You can't tell them that he's dead, you aren't faking a death."

"Dr Steele, please, let me just get a sentence out. I understand that you are under immense pressure and stress."

"I'll say," she scoffed, sitting back down in the chair as he watched Burt who was sat on the opposite side finish his story.

"I was going to call Mr Grey's immediate family members for this meeting in Grey House, but before I got the chance to do so, Mr Sawyer informed me that they are already on their way over to the penthouse."

"Is Elena with them?" Anastasia asked. She had no idea why she asked that question but she was on auto-pilot at the moment because her eyes could stare a whole into the plain-colored table cloth currently covering the surface of the table before her.

When no one answered, she looked up to see eyes glancing from one to another, and it looked like neither Taylor nor Burt knew this. So, she threw her head back and caught Sawyer's eyes. She lifted an eyebrow but she wasn't sure if the man got the message but he talked.

"Yes."

"Fuck," Taylor muttered.

"You mean thank fuck?" Anastasia leapt up from the chair knocking it over in the process.

"No, why?" He frowned and Sawyer had the same expression on his face.

"It's finally time to put her acting skills to test," she stated as if it should be obvious. "I mean she doesn't know how much I know about Christian. From the way we were together, I doubt that she knew that Christian confessed everything to me."

Burt was going to say something but was cut off by Anastasia's phone as well as both Taylor and Sawyer's. She glimpsed at the two men who merely peered at their phone before sharing a glance and Taylor was off. Returning to her phone, she realized that she had two notifications.

One was probably what the two men had got—a code had been entered into the elevator at the garage level and it was the wrong code. It meant that someone was trying to gain excess to the penthouse. When her eyes darted to Sawyer's, it was confirmed that the Grey clan had arrived.

The next one was from Ethan asking him where she was. She mentally cursed because she had totally forgot about her pathetic request and her little meltdown from earlier. Her feelings were much more complicated now than ever but she needed to make Ethan stop worrying.

_I'm sorry to pull you out of work but I'm in the middle something rn, be back later._

She sighed dejectedly. She had no idea what she was supposed to say to the non-blood related brother that she had since she befriending Kate. A response came back instantly but she couldn't bring herself to look at it, she wouldn't know how to reply to it. So, she pretended that she didn't hear the notification sound.

"Not a word to them," Anastasia wanted to say to the lawyer but he appeared like he had another idea. So, just to shut herself up before she blurted that request out, she picked up her phone out of habit to occupy her wandering brain, and she was met with a text from Flynn instead of Ethan.

_He will return home tonight, we are at the clinic_

"I am going to go through the process," Burt spoke before Anastasia could let the comprehend the meaning of the message, she quickly stowed her phone and gave him her attention. "Just tell them whatever they are required to know, nothing more and nothing less."

"You are aware that Elena is going to be present right? She's like the culprit in all of this," her hand waved around generically.

"I am fully aware. I just need to tell them what your role is and the content of Christian's will."

"The company percentage part?"

"Yes."

"Just that?"

"We'll see how it goes," Burt gave her a pointed look. Her frown eased when she heard the commotion coming from the foyer and she knew it would only be a matter of seconds before she was face to face with her haters.

Anastasia sighed and composed herself.

_This is going to be an uphill battle._

She thought to herself when she saw Elena walking closely next to Grace and Carrick not far behind. Elliot and Mia were the only two trying to keep a distance with the blonde witch and keeping to themselves while both sporting worried looks. Anastasia was now waiting for Elena's theatrics.

…

"He left everything to you! Does he have Stockholm Syndrome?"

Grace was the first one to jump up when the announcement that Anastasia was now the owner of everything. Technically speaking, she was simply the 'guardian' of an insane person and his assets.

"No, he doesn't," Taylor replied calmly but it fell on deaf ears.

"I knew it!" Of course she was the first to jump down her throat before anything could be explained. And, with the lack of context, too. It wasn't lost on Anastasia, Elliot and Mia that Elena was trying her damn best to hide her smug smirk but it was all in her eyes.

"Knew what?" Anastasia said lamely, she already saw this coming and she felt Sawyer taking a step closer to her and standing behind her chair.

"You are trying to take everything from Christian. I knew you were always after his money! To think that my son really did love you…" Grace cried, pointing a perfectly manicured finger at the young woman menacingly.

"Oh come on, news flash, Grace, if it was money that I really wanted and I am some fraud I wouldn't have robbed Christian. He's not even half as rich as the royalties in Europe. After all, you all but sent me to Europe thinking that separating me and Christian is in the best interest of your son."

"It is," Carrick defended, glowering at her demeaningly. He hated the tone this young woman was using to his wife and the words that she was spewing. Somehow, he believed that she was a liar and manipulative. "And, it's Dr Trevelyan and Mr Grey to you, young lady."

"I really don't care how I address you, Carrick. Fuck the formalities because we won't be sitting here going through this shit if it wasn't for the two of you feeding your youngest son to a pedophile currently sat next to you."

"You watch your mouth in this room!" Carrick boomed. Anastasia was simply too tired to play games with her. She was already emotionally and mentally drained from flying back from Copenhagen and then going through the series of events that she went through today.

"This is my house now," she told them calmly and wearily. She truly was exhausted. "And, forgive me, I must've put a label on things a little too quickly. Let me start from the beginning."

Carrick and Grace both jumped up, all this time not paying attention to Elena who was under the scrutiny of Taylor and Sawyer. The lawyer hadn't had a chance to utter a single word since the outburst.

"Your son was a traumatized toddler before he even arrived under your roof, and then instead of spending more time with him or doing whatever the fuck parents should do, you send your kid who barely knows a few vocabulary to therapies. What do you think this is going to achieve? Then, when he was acting out in his teenage years, you thought he's like a fucking dog with too much energy that needed to be burnt off, so you two sent him off to some manual labor. Well, I'm no pediatrician," she glared pointedly at Grace who was still fuming right next to her husband, "but I do know that when a kid acts like how Christian did, that's called wanting to get your attention not trying to get into trouble on purpose."

Elena was starting to lose color on her face but none of the Greys noticed.

"Well, guess what? You wanted him to do physical labor, he did. Just not in the form that you all thought it would be. Instead of picking up weeds in the garden for Elena, he was getting fucked by her."

Gasps were heard all around the room. She knew she had been crass but she didn't care, right now wasn't the time to be delicate, she needed to paint the picture as ugly as possible so she was going to callous with her description.

"Oh, wait," she smirked at Elena. "Let me rephrase it, your best friend," she grinned devilishly, "who was old enough to know better fucked some horny fifteen year old boy in the name of discipline. The pictures you saw online, well, that's exactly what she taught your youngest son."

Elena's fist slammed down onto the table. "She's defaming my name!"

"I'm not done yet, Elena. Calm the fuck down, it's my show and you're just an audience. So, sit your sagging ass down," Anastasia placated, her sailor mouth surfacing. "That lifestyle is called BDSM. I'm sure you've heard the name multiple times by now. That is the so-called lifestyle that your best friend introduced to your fifteen year old son. Though, if you read the article from the New York Times and did your research, you'll see that what Elena is doing is not BDSM because it's not safe, not sane, and definitely not consensual."

"He signed a contract, and he came back to me."

"Washington's legal age of consent is sixteen. If you've just waited for one more year, you could've probably get away from it." Anastasia rolled her eyes. "But, you just have to be so desperate for a child's dick," she said nonchalantly. "It's repulsing, I know," she agreed when she saw the pale faces from Mia and Elliot, both wanting to make a run for the toilet bowl. "I'll bet my entire fortune that is what she is currently doing with her adopted son," she continued. "But, I digress. I'm getting off topic now. I'm relaying Christian's story not Isaac's."

Grace and Carrick were still seething but Anastasia didn't bother stopping to check whether this anger was directed at her or at the blonde plastic barbie.

"Anyways, this affair went on for six years and neither of you," she pointed to the parents, "noticed. So, his attempt to get your attention failed, yet again."

"And, then he dropped out of college. Are you going to say that he's trying to get our attention with that stunt, too?" Carrick spat.

"Oh, so you two are still angry at me," Anastasia concluded, "fair enough," she shrugged. "I'm not a psychologist, so I don't know. But, I'd like to think that your subtle negligence pushed him into the open arms of someone who likes to take advantage of weak minded individuals. I don't think it's hard for normal people to understand that a person who's gone through what Christian's been through tend to have a weaker mentality."

When she glanced around the room, she was met with pin-dropping silence.

"Perhaps you don't," she continued. "It doesn't matter, because Elena knows about Christian's every weakness. Why? Oh, because he's got a very caring mother who shares her worries with this lady over here," she gestured to Elena. "And, said lady will then use them to manipulate Christian into thinking that he is on his own," she held out her hand and started to list off the things that Elena made him believe in. "No one loves him, no one should love him. Love is for fools," she glared pointedly at Elena for quoting her exact belief. "The list goes on, but most importantly, she's taught him not to trust the love you all have for him as family. Elena abused the love and care he has for you, that's the reason why he never approached you with all of this sordid stories because he doesn't want to disappoint you and he knew that he'd hurt you by telling you all of this. Most importantly, he believes that you won't believe him because you are all so brainwashed by Elena.

"In short, Elena successfully separated him from his loved ones and isolated him completely."

"You're lying," Carrick seethed through gritted teeth.

"Oh, you still don't believe me?"

"Those pictures that were published has dates written on them."

"There's a thing called photoshop these days. I know that you're not a photographer but those edits can be done simply."

"Why is he taking pictures of those women anyway? They all look like you."

"Whoa, are you suggesting that they're me?" Anastasia snapped. "Woman, take a closer look, will you? I'll tell you point blank that those are the works of Elena but of course you won't believe me because she's sitting right here pretending to be worrisome about Christian and his wellbeing."

"Of course we don't believe you! Why would Elena have anything to do with him and that sick lifestyle of his?"

"She was the one that introduced him to it! How many times do I have to say it to drill it into your minds? Fine," Anastasia huffed, "you just like to be tortured. I'm game," she threw up her hands. "Taylor, can you fetch me the album, please?"

"He's not your staff!"

"He is," was all Anastasia stated. "I figured you two are probably more of a visual person. So, if you can't distinguish my naked body from the other women then you probably could recognize the figure of your son?" She took the iPad from Taylor and muttered a thanks you.

Grace and Carrick took the tabloid, almost snatching from her hands. Everyone around scooted closer and surrounded the device. Mia and Elliot both shot up from their seats and made a bee line for the nearest bathroom.

"That's photoshopped."

"Really?"

"This can't be real."

"Then, perhaps those photos of the women are also photoshopped? Can you see the similarities in them? If Elena didn't take those pictures, Christian would have no pressure going around blabbering to people that he's fucking some old cunt, but now that there are those for blackmail… you can fill in the rest for yourself."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care," Anastasia countered quickly. "Even though I think Elena is giving away her façade right now." She then turned to Elena who's face was paler than the wall behind her. "Aw, come on, I thought you can put up with it longer. Aren't you relieved now that your friends believed you over me? Isn't what this is all about? Your goal?"

All the eyes darted to Elena and even the best actress with no mental disorder would succumb to the pressure.

"It's true isn't it, Elena?" Grace whispered quietly, tears started to form on in his face.

"I was helping him and he liked it. That bitch just has to twist everything!" Elena cried.

"Oh, this is news. Elena, up your theatrics, _please_. I've seen you do a better performance than that."

"No, this isn't over! You hear me, girl. I will be back! I just need to go clear my head. This is too much," Elena fanned herself and stood up to leave.

"You helped her," Anastasia pointed at Carrick and then at Elena's retreating figure, "take another innocent child into the dungeon to be abused. And you," she then pointed to Grace, "did nothing when you noticed bruises on Christian when he was young, or when you noticed that same patches on Isaac when he came over."

Both parents blanched at the accusations but couldn't wrap their minds around what they had just heard. Then, Mia and Elliot returned.

"Where's Elena?" Elliot managed to choke out.

"Gone, she walked out," Anastasia replied calmly. The blonde woman was the least of her concerns because all she could've done to damage Christian was done and there was nothing more she could do. "What kind of parents are you?" She continued to yell at the two parents because she was suddenly feeling enraged and furious over their failed parenting that resulted the current state that Christian was in. "Your kids, plural. Not _one_ but all three of them came to you questioning your friendship with Elena, yet none of you thought you should probably stop and think about it? Perhaps an evaluation would be nice? But, no! You two were too enchanted by her spell or whatever manipulative shitty wool she was pulling over your eyes, that you were blind to see what's going on right under your nose. This could've been stopped if you just showed a little bit more support to Christian!

"Do you know how many times Taylor wanted to tell you about Elena? How many times _I_ wanted to scream at the two of you? I even suppressed that urge when clearly you were the one that sent me to Denmark because Elena gave you that idea. In hindsight, I shouldn't have been so respective of Christian's wishes to keep this a secret."

"What should we do now?" Mia asked, weeping silently in Elliot's arms. Anastasia was half convinced that she was scared from her outburst more than the current situation that her brother was in.

"Just prepare a lot of money. I have a feeling that we have to buy him out of debt."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	25. The Aftermath

_**The Aftermath**_

"Can we know the rest?" Elliot requested after sending the parents away.

Anastasia shared a look with Taylor, Sawyer and Burt and they all nodded.

"Okay," she decided, "but this stays between the two of you," she warned them sternly and they both nodded giving her their word.

"I'm going to bury her alive," Elliot growled after Anastasia finished.

"No, don't! I want to do that, too, but we can't provoke her any further and give her more to spew to the press. Let's handle this the right way. Even if our justice system can be useless sometimes, we still have to do it for the sake of publicity."

…

_"You are conjuring up the biggest scandal of this entire century!"_

_"Is your family's reputation all you care about?"_

_"Your reputation will be your main concern when your family is the biggest laughing stock in the society. You aren't affected like we are. You have no idea what my workplace has become, what the people are talking about my family. My son is now the greatest ridicule for everyone to laugh at."_

_"Is that all you care about? You are possibly facing alleged discrimination from your colleagues, and so are the rest of your family. You aren't the center of this whole mess, Christian is! If you are already suffering like this, then think about him! What he's going through is definitely worse than yours! You've really lost all of my respect toward you, Grace. It is no wonder that you are friends with a vile woman like Elena."_

Anastasia reserved her opinion on Carrick. Though, both of them were in denial, that much was obvious to her when she observed the parents, but at least Carrick was less vocal about it. Grace was just trying to scream out false beliefs in an attempt to convince herself that this was all a nightmare and she was innocent from the consequences of the published pictures and contracts.

The press portrayed Christian as some sort of monster despite the article from Kate earlier. Then again, she was sure that Elena had something to do with the increasing comments and false claims about him in the news after overhearing that meeting with the lawyer.

The irony wasn't lost on her that the mother of said monster was also no better than a socialite with monstrous characteristics.

Anastasia knew exactly what Grace was experiencing because in a way, she was also considered as family by the public because she was all lovey-dovey with Christian back when they were dating, or whenever they were on camera.

Therefore, she couldn't even step outdoors without being whispered about and being pointed at. She knew she was constantly the talk of the town because apparently people had figured out that she was an exception to the lifestyle.

And, she half suspected that Elena had something to do with this, or ordering the mentally problematic three submissives to talk to the press and leak such an information subtly and anonymously.

"Ah, fuck…" she cursed under her breath, apparently having made the wrong mistake to step out of Escala right after Elena, then the Greys left. "Why did I think it's a good idea to walk to Pike's Place?" She turned around abruptly, nearly crashing into Sawyer who chuckled at her complaints.

"Do you want me to drive you?"

"Do you mind?"

"No, we can take one of the Audis."

"My cars," she let out a single chuckle humorlessly.

"Yes," he sighed equally mirthlessly.

Sawyer dropped her off at the front gate of the apartment building and saw her into the elevator before driving back to Escala to meet with Taylor.

"Ethan!" Anastasia melted instantly when his arms came around her body. Every emotion that she had been bottling up since meeting the Greys all flooded out. She threw her arms around his neck and clung onto him as she cried her heart out.

All he could do was rub her back up and down soothingly just like he did to Kate when she cried on his shoulder before. There was nothing he could say because he couldn't get a word in with her sobs and sniffles, and all the mumbles coming out of her mouth slurred. Taco seemed to have sense the mood and quietly went to the carpet in the living room and curled up. His bed and bowls weren't set up yet, even though he knew it was in the bag that Anastasia was carrying everywhere with her.

Just this once, he sensed her distress and stayed out of her way. Normally, he would be pawing at the bag urging Anastasia to set up his stuff and hand out his toys, but this time he rested his chin on his front paws and remained mute.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" He moved them to the couch and pulled her head into his chest waiting for her to calm down.

She shook her head, no.

"Okay, do you want anything to eat? You must be hungry."

"Did you cook?" She sniffled, realizing that her voice had changed completely due to her heavy water works.

"Yeah, why?"

"I missed your cooking," she didn't bother hiding it from him unlike the other times they were together. He was the one that got her into baking and he was the one that made her the most memorable meal, before Christian. She didn't think anyone could top his kitchen skills. "I've always loved your food, you know that. Stop being so cocky."

Ethan laughed when she shoved him pretentiously on the chest while getting up.

"What did you make?"

"Your favorite."

"You sure you didn't get it mixed up with Kate's or with someone else's."

"I've done it once, woman. Once! You and Kate are the only two sisters I have, Jesus."

She giggled, swatting away the finger in her face. She was aware of how ugly she looked right now but she considered Ethan family, so if she wasn't embarrassed to be without makeup in front of Kate, then she was comfortable in Ethan's presence.

"I need to call Kate tomorrow," she said to no one in particular just making a mental note aloud.

"Why? Call her now."

"It's two in the morning in New York, honey," she rolled her eyes at his insensitivity just like any guy.

"Oh, well. Why though?"

"I just want to talk to her."

"Why can't you talk to me?"

"Because she knows Christian and you don't?"

"She knows Christian? I do, too!"

"Bullshit you don't! No, I mean like personally. Well, or like… they talk okay? They talk about me and she really wants us to get back together. They're like best friends these past few months, I swear. I have to get updates of Christian from her!"

"Are you sure my sister isn't crushing on your man? I mean, she did have a history of drooling on good looking man."

"No," she rolled her eyes, she could pictures Ethan's face even though she couldn't see him and he was all the way in the kitchen. "You are obsessed with him and Kate's merely interested in him because of her journalist instincts."

"Yet, she still hasn't publish an article on him. I wonder why?"

"They've never met in person, okay? If that's what you're trying to suggest to me. They are really just acquaintance. They have a mutual interest."

"Yeah, you. Clearly," she could hear him rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, me. They both love me, okay? You're jealous, I know but you need to shut up."

"Glad I can cheer you up," he quipped lightheartedly. "Still, aren't you going to vent to me?"

"Nope, you don't know him and you don't know what's going on."

"I did date his sister for a bit."

"Oh my god, don't remind me of his sister. She's too much."

He laughed. "Why?"

"Oh come on. You can't be serious about her. I mean, Kate literally compared you to Elliot, which I totally agree. Then, you can't possibly say that she's good at bakery or cookery because I swear you're the master chef here."

"Honestly, yeah, other than her cookies, nothing really worked out well."

"That cookie is my recipe."

"I'll bet I taught you that."

"Nope!" She declared proudly. "Totally not you."

He gave her a stinky look when he reappeared with two plates in his hand.

"Lasagna?" She squealed, jumping up from the couch that she was splayed over like a boneless pile of meat. "Indeed my favorite," she rubbed her hands together and all her worries were suddenly out of the window and all she could focus on was her empty stomach.

"Slow down, lady," Ethan hauled her away before she could reach the table. "Go wash your hands."

"What? You are such a dad," she whined as she dutifully headed for the bathroom.

"And you're such a kid," he jested back.

"You haven't eat yet? It's eleven at night."

"I'm a night owl, you know that."

"Some things just never change," she teased. "Well, I mean I guess you kind of have to be since you can only pick up girls at night."

"Ana, you need to shut up."

"Hey! I've had a long day, I'm allowed to act like a fucking bitch and loosen up a little at home."

He stared at her.

"Dipshit," she muttered but bursted out giggling when she saw the look on his face and what she had just said.

"I never thought I'd see the day to hear you act so callously."

"Do you want some drink, then?"

"Wine?"

"Sure."

"Do you have… never mind, get whatever you have." She was going to order the kind that Christian brought over when they were in Baltimore, but she knew that he probably wouldn't know what they were. He wasn't a huge fan of wine after all, unlike Christian.

"What?"

"Nothing," she crooned, digging into her meal and completely disregarding Ethan who was pouring them wine with the food still untouched.

"Clearly that's a lie."

"Shut up and eat, asshole," she muttered with her eyes still focused on her plate.

"Cheers," he said dryly raising his wineglass for a toast and brought it to his lips before Anastasia could even lift up her own. She scowled at his smirk with her mouth full.

"You and Mia, you were like casual?"

"In my opinion, yes, but then again, you know how I can't take a hint from a girl. I don't understand the subtle messages they're sending me."

"Maybe you need a wingman," Anastasia jabbed in Taco's direction with her fork, the dog was sitting next to the table as close as it could, salivating over the food and Anastasia swore if she stood up and came back she would find Taco on her seat eating from her plate.

"Who, you? Are you kidding me? I think Taco's probably a better choice than you." Taco's ears perked up slightly and his eyes landed on Ethan's forkful of lasagna, and for a moment, he thought that was going to end up in his mouth so he stared at it hopefully. His eyes darted from Ethan's face to his fork, but that never happened.

"What? I'm offended. I'm a very good wingman."

"Yeah, I'll bet. You've got no experience. When's the last time you did that for someone?"

"Good point, but still, I'm a girl, I can translate everything for you."

"That'll only end in utter disaster, I just know it."

"Oh my god, have some faith in me, will you? The last thing I need is a low self-esteem right now."

"You're right, I'm sorry for trumping your ego, but the answer is still no."

Anastasia rolled her eyes and changed the topic.

Then, her phone rang.

"Adam, what the fuck? Do you not sleep or what?"

"It's almost eight here, and what are you doing? You should be asleep."

"I'm eating dinner," she placed the phone down and put it on speaker finding it too tiresome to hold it against her shoulder.

"Are you with someone?"

"Yes," she snapped, "why are you calling?"

"Oh…" he cooed. "Is that a man?"

"My brother."

"You don't have a brother."

"Doesn't matter, you need to start speaking because I've had a long day and I'm not in the mood for chit chats."

"Okay, okay, I get it, you're moody."

"Adam! Get to the point!" She knew he was about to suggest if she was on her period so she interrupted just in time. Ethan laughed silently.

"José called."

"The small one?"

"Yes, the _younger_ one. I'm sorry, but do you speak English?"

"Yes," she rolled her eyes exasperatedly, kicking Ethan under the table for laughing so hard at her jet-lagged and very sleep-deprived brain. She technically didn't sleep for the entire night in Copenhagen time.

"He wants to know if you're going back to Baltimore any time soon."

"Why?"

"He wants to help keep your position for you."

"What do you mean?"

"You're on the verge of getting sacked if you weren't Rodriguez's lifesaver."

"Because of the scandal? That's ridiculous."

"Yes, just like the scandal. I know, but that's reality. So, he wants this answer tomorrow your time."

"Jesus," Anastasia exclaimed lowly.

"You can think about it and call me back or call him. You have his number, I don't know why he didn't call you."

"I didn't save his number after he called me that one time, even though he told me to."

"Okay, I'll text you his number later but think about this."

"No, I'll decide now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she scraped her plate clean and placed her fork down finally feeling full. "Is it possible for him to ask for a position in Seattle?"

"The main site?"

"Yeah, so I get to work with you."

"I know you're only joking."

"Yeah, partly. Still, is it possible?"

"Probably a little challenging. That's asking for a lot."

"Okay, fine, then just keep the position."

"Keep it? You're coming back?"

"I can request a transfer after this whole thing dies down."

"Do you have a time frame?"

"Have you been watching the news, Adam? Do you think there's going to be one?"

"Okay, fair enough. I'll let José know, and he'll find a replacement for you to fill in your blank for now until you return."

"Text me his number, too. I think I might need to cash in my favor now. Or more like ask for a huge one."

"I'm sure he'll do everything he can to compensate you. You have no idea how much he values you as a person and also as a doctor."

"He's going out of his way to save me a job."

"No, that's actually not hard for him."

"Still, he thought about it."

"Oh, you can never be forgotten. For a man who's so reliant on his father with the businesses, his worst fear is his father dying, so you've technically saved his life more than Senior's."

"Oh, well, tell him I said thank you and I will be calling him. Anything important going on?"

"Nope, just Candy Crush lady being herself. Oh, I think Frederik is missing you."

"Tell him to suck it up. I thought he moved on from me."

"He's asking me for your phone number now, and where you are. Claims that he missed Taco but I'm sure it's you that he's missing."

"Pussy," Anastasia laughed. She had been having too much wine but at least she was relaxed.

"You clearly aren't sober, so bye! And, bye Ana's date!"

"I'm the brother," Ethan grumbled but the line was already severed.

"Sorry about that," Anastasia chirped lightly obviously not a tad bit contrite. "Fuck," she groaned when there was another incoming call.

"You are one busy bug."

"Get lost," she grunted as she picked up the phone, this time she held it to her ear because it was Flynn. "How is he?" She jumped straight to the point.

"He's not gone insane yet, but he is really lost. I just took him back to Escala and both Jason and Luke are there to tend to him, and also Gail."

"Okay, so it's not gone worse?"

"No. Right now, we are just trying to maintain his current state because I do believe that he is on the verge of insanity."

"Oh god…" Anastasia groaned in despair, tears immediately pooled back in her eye sockets. "Keep me posted then, John."

"I will. Take care, Ana."

"You too. Thank you… bye."

"Goodbye."

"This is so fucked up!" She cried, suppressing the urge to launch her wineglass at the wall.

"Go to bed, Ana. You need to sleep, I'll take care of Taco and everything else."

"Okay. His stuff is in that bag. Take him out before you go to bed and make sure he pees before taking him back. Throw his bed at a corner where it won't be in the way and he'll find his way over for the night. If you have leftovers, you can feed some to him but I think Gail's fed him already…"

"Ana, calm down. Take a deep breath and stop worrying. I will take care of it, I've dog-sat before."

"Okay, goodnight, Elephant."

He smiled at her retreating form and silently laughed at the childhood nickname she came up for him when she couldn't pronounce his name properly.

There was only one thought in her mind: in her haste to expose Elena and her antics, she had probably made the situation worse for Christian. If there was something left to salvage, she had probably just destroyed what was left by including Elena in that conversation that should've been strictly with the Greys. Still, she doubted that Grace wouldn't rat her out to Elena the moment they were gone.

…

FEBRUARY 2016

This was such a huge scandal, not only was Christian abusive but he was also a tyrant who would sexually assault people left and right, according to the media. That was just downright ridiculous, but there was nothing Anastasia could do about where the public opinion lay because she was too focused on trying to stop GEH from losing money like sand slipping out between fingers.

She had checked her every savings and entire financial status and concluded that she had just under two millions in total including all of her possessions, cash and property. When she saw the number in her car account, it was just under a million, courtesy of Christian's half a million transfer when she left for Baltimore. She still had no idea why he would give her so much money but she had suspected that he had found out what this account was for.

Her house in Baltimore, that small ass condo was worth the most because of its location. She would sell it to the highest bidder if necessary, because she did have quite a few valuable possession and assets under her name.

"José, hey," she answered the phone.

The man was busy when she called so he promised to call back and she had finally received that call.

"Hello, Dr Steele."

"It's Ana, please drop the formality," she chuckled awkwardly. "With what I'm about to ask you I think we are way past formalities."

"Oh, whatever you're going to ask I am sure will be no favor at all."

Anastasia wasn't put at ease like the assumption's intended effect, instead she was even more nervous.

"Okay, I'll be blunt and I do apologize in advance," she continued nervously and embarrassing that she was actually making this phone call.

"Oh, not at all, please. I'm all ears."

"I want to ask you for a huge favor," she could hear him hum into the phone indicating that he was listening. "Can you be my proxy?" There was silence on the other end so she quickly started to explain. "For my investments, I think I need to adjust a few to make more cash available but I can't leave Seattle right now. I know I am asking a lot from you, and I can understand that you are busy with the company and also with your father who is still recovering. I can understand if you can't help me…"

"Ana, after what you've done to my father, there is nothing that will make me turn down your favor. Especially one that can be accomplished so easily."

"José…"

"No, let me finish. I have talked to my dad already, and he has expressed his infinite gratitude toward your gesture in saving his life. He agrees that we have to aid you in anyway we can, so what you are asking is no favor to me. Just tell me what you have in mind and I will be taking care of your requests."

"Thank you… José, I…" Anastasia was speechless, she knew that the family was very thankful of her but she didn't think that her action warranted that kind of recognition and appreciation. She was just doing her duty as a doctor to support another person's life in all ways medically achievable. "Thank you so much," she decided, settling her own beating heart. "Do I need to draft a legal document to appoint you as my advisor on the East Coast? I will send you the number to my investment advisor."

"A written agreement will be in the best interest for the both of us."

They smoothed out the details over the phone and Anastasia couldn't be more thankful at the family. Her social connections were now finally paying off, in more ways than one.

When she called Adam the other day, she was told that he had called a few colleagues in Seattle and asked if she could go in as a consultant or to help out in the anesthesiology department since she would be there for the foreseeable future. They agreed and that was where she had been spending her free time when she wasn't trying to worry about Christian and his progress updates from Flynn.

The colleagues were all really nice just as she remembered and she wasn't experiencing any discrimination like Grace had claimed that she was experiencing. Everyone was kind and sympathetic, they never judged one's private life and they were even shocked that someone would do such thing to a respectable man like Christian Grey.

Anastasia hadn't talked too much about Christian to other people in the workplace, and she didn't even tell Ethan everything, just an overall summary. Her new colleagues were respectable of her personal space and they worked really well together, some even started to joke that she should really just transfer over.

She had went into a few surgeries and overlooked a few operations, people actually came to her for consultation on the procedure and she had met a few more patients. She had never imagined that the acquaintances that she had made over the years would really remain by her despite the scandal that blew up in her life.

The press was still relentless but Sawyer had been really helpful at sneaking her in and out of the building and into her workplace. However, the hounding never stopped whenever a member of the press spotted her or caught wind of her, even though she could tell that most ordinary people weren't exactly interested in her. Still, she had decided that the next time she was ambushed by the cameras, she was going to answer a few questions just to get them off her back so she could concentrate on the current crisis with Christian and his company.

She didn't know if it was her having this nagging feeling because she had been so negative about everything lately, or it was really happening. She just felt like GEH was crumbling and in a rapid motion that could hardly be stopped. After all, that company was still fresh and only just started for not a few years. Christian was still a millionaire and not even close to making his first billion.

That night, she voiced the thought to Ethan over dinner and he suggested her to pay a visit to Grey House.

So, that was what she did. She picked up the phone and dialed the number even though it was late, but she was determined. She hadn't seen Christian in nearly a month and she wasn't about to delay that separation any longer, she wanted to see him and she knew that she sooner she solved all of this mess the quicker he could be released from isolation.

"Taylor, how can I make an appointment with Ros Bailey?"

…

"Ros? I'm sorry to add on to your busy schedule."

"Don't worry, you're my much needed break from this hectic chaos. I need a breath of fresh air and I think you are it. Did you have lunch yet?"

"No, but I am here to talk business. I need to understand the situation."

"What situation?"

"The current state that GEH is in."

"Okay, I'll tell you that, but where is Christian?"

"He…" Anastasia looked around contemplating how much to spill. "Do you mind signing an NDA from me?"

"An NDA? Is he murdered or what? Ana, you don't do NDAs, that's his thing. Who are you now? I'm really worried that I'm facing an imposter right now."

"No, I'm Ana. It's just that… I'll fill you in on everything after you've signed it. It's for my safety and for Christian's. Please?"

Ros took a seat again and took the papers from Sawyer still eying Anastasia with heavy suspicion. She really didn't know what this girl was up to acting so bizarre and odd. She took a pen and signed it after scanning through the content.

"Okay, now what?"

Anastasia spent the next few minutes filling her in on the current situation that she was stuck in.

"Well, hello boss?"

"Yeah," Anastasia smiled wryly. "But, I'm here because you're technically the acting CEO right now, so I want to know how the company is doing?"

"How it's doing? Well, a few negotiations fell through. Several large investors threatened to pull out. Nothing much, really."

"Nothing much?" Anastasia stared at her incredulously half suspecting the woman to be using a sarcastic tone earlier. "You're not serious, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Ros replied in the same monotone, she refused to show her true feelings and emotions. Inside of her was currently in turmoil because of the uproar and the chaos.

"Christian has mentioned a shipyard in Baltimore that he said is really beneficial, at least he really wants it, will a deal with that shipyard help?"

"You sound like you can get it for us," Ros scoffed.

"I can try," Anastasia tried to sound as confident as she could possibly muster, she had never thought about having a hand in his business dealings but she felt like she had to start doing that now.

"Yeah, right."

"I know the owner," she tried again knowing that Ros wouldn't trust her with this statement, it was too brave.

"Oh, yeah?" Anastasia nodded meekly, very unlike the actual legal owner of this corporation and more like an intern under Ros. "Well, come to me when you actually have the deal done? I am having a very hard time believing shit people say to me because everything seems to be fake, you know? Christian has been walking around like some zombie for months since October and now that there are pictures around… his private life is just on display for the entire public to judge." Ros vented and Anastasia couldn't agree more.

At least, this woman didn't seem like she was going to jump ship any time soon.

"Baltimore will be beneficial," she informed and Anastasia made a mental note to call José.

They concluded the brief meeting with Ros huffing and telling Anastasia to go to the CFO for more detailed information. While Anastasia could understand why she acted so hotly given the pressure and stress she was under but she really didn't have to be so dismissive. Anastasia knew that she knew nothing about business or how the company works but if it was money that they needed, she didn't think it would be that challenging to obtain the amount demanded.

That wasn't the first conversation she had with the COO, however. After talking to José over the phone, albeit a really awkward and embarrassing conversation, she had finally got the idea across and went to Ros to tell her the good news that they were open to negotiations and were willing to lower their expectations.

And, the meeting did not go as planned.

"What do you mean we're in debt?" Anastasia had barely gotten a word out about the shipyard when Ros bombarded her with updates about the condition of the company.

"Large investors are pulling out in different sectors and many of our subsidiaries are on the verge of bankrupting and they are already planning on filing for bankruptcy."

"Why are they pulling out? Is it because of the scandal again? Those people should know better than to believe what's on TV. It's Christian's private life, surely these people have even more sordid personal lives behind doors."

"They are convinced that Christian isn't a businessman of his word."

"What do you mean?"

"The contracts that are published has a clause stated explicitly that if either party violated the NDA and publicized the contract or spread the word, they are going to be facing consequences. And, I'm assuming that the consequences are either a law-suit or that series of photos…"

"Those photos are for insurance purposes but they aren't released by Christian. None of this are!"

"I know that! But, apparently our business partners and investors don't! They think that all of this bullshit originated from Grey."

"But what motives would Christian have? This is only going to damage his reputation and bring down his business. Do those men have no brains or intelligence?"

"That's the reason they gave us when they defaulted their investments." Ros shrugged helplessly and dejectedly. "What have you got there? You seemed to be in a good mood before I poured a bucket of cold water over you."

"Well… I talked to José, the owner of the shipyard not the CEO," she clarified, and she relayed the message she got. "Do you want to talk to him yourself? I think a conference between you, their CEO and José will be helpful because I know nothing about business and I have zero idea what he's actually suggesting, though it sounds like a positive thing when I heard it from him."

Ros pondered. "Are you talking about that rich-ass banker's family? The one where they have billions dollars worth of inheritance?"

"José Rodriguez? I guess…"

"Yeah, him. Grey only met him and his son in New York last April."

"Well, I… oh, really? He knew them? No wonder they seemed eager to help out."

"They're our biggest investor on the East Coast."

"Oh! I didn't know that…" she groaned at her lack of knowledge about those connections.

"Do you know them personally?"

"I guess…?"

"What does that mean?"

"I was one of his father's doctor when he underwent that surgery."

"What surgery?"

"It doesn't matter but José, the junior, thinks that I've saved his father's life."

"Oh, no wonder they sound so eager to help… at least from what you're saying."

"They are…"

"Well, I'll tell you what. If that deal with Baltimore goes through, we might have an ounce of hope that people get smarter and forget about the shit coming from the press and actually focus on doing business with a respectable company. Rodriguez is a big deal, I just hope their reputation is strong enough to sustain the hit of being associated with this scandal."

"One can only hope."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	26. Consequences and Complications

_**Consequences and Complications**_

MARCH 2016

Taco was sent to Escala finally fulfilling his emotional support dog duty.

During one of the many days when Anastasia sat facing the wall twiddling her thumb trying to make sense of the mess she was currently in all because she loved Christian too much, she had forgotten all about Taco even though she routinely took him out for walks and fed him.

There was a moment of epiphany when she suddenly recalled that Taco was actually a licensed emotional support dog for Christian, so that prompted her to call Flynn. The conversation was a tad bit awkward for both parties but at least she got the point across and Flynn wholeheartedly agreed.

And, that was how Taco packed his stuff and headed back to his first proper home.

Now that the apartment was peaceful and quiet with Ethan at work, Anastasia cringed at how her recent conversations with people had been anything but comfortable and smooth. Perhaps she was the one that required therapy?

The scandal had take a toll on everyone, and she knew that it was the hardest for Christian. She had no idea if the dog would help him or how Taco could help him, but she trusted Flynn to administer the correct and suitable method. After all, she had once questioned his ability to treat Christian; but that was just her being overly concerned and ignorant to an extent because she knew nothing about psychiatry.

…

"I think I need to sell the condo."

"That small apartment of yours in Baltimore?"

"Yeah, is it worth a lot of money?"

"Duh!"

"Okay, sell it. I need the money."

"Wait, you don't have to sell it to get money."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…"

"I'm really sorry to interrupt your night but if it is no bother to you…"

"No, of course, I'll look for the highest bidder. When do you need the cash?"

"Soon, I think."

"Okay, cool. I'll get back to you."

Obviously he had other plans to get her money but he wasn't about to defy her wishes so he made a note on his calendar to get it done tomorrow morning.

…

The drive way was just as she remembered and the huge mansion that once welcomed her with open arms. Though, nothing changed physically, but everything felt like it was colder and less like the feeling in her memories.

Ana's work in the hospital really didn't last very long. She was constantly badgered by calls mostly from Ros to keep her updated, and she was also asked to sit in on teleconferences. She also needed to check in with investors on a frequent basis to ensure the money from Christian was making profit.

She sat in her car silently questioning her decision to sought out torture so early in the morning. She had just had lunch with Ethan before he left for work and she left in the car borrowed from Christian's fleet.

"Gretchen, hi," Anastasia greeted the housekeeper politely. She was aware of the crush she had on Christian but the woman never made it obvious other than showing it in the eyes, so Anastasia never really bothered about it. She was, overall, very professional.

"Can I go announce you?"

"Oh, um… sure. Yes, please," Anastasia stumbled on her words. Her mind was all over the place and her first thought was that this household was certainly too old-fashioned, but then she started to wonder how could the three children held so modern beliefs. She almost missed Gretchen's request but luckily she had mastered the skill of multitasking these past few weeks.

"Follow me, please."

"Who did you say is here?" Anastasia could hear the demanding tone in Grace's voice as she neared the living room as she followed after Gretchen. Clearly it was a woman's household.

"Dr Trevelyan, Mr Grey," she showed herself from behind the maid and gave both of them a polite nod. Her head scanned the room and immediately landed on Burt who had already arrived.

Anastasia briefly wondered why they had to deliver this so early in the morning but she could only guess that this man got used to working under an early-riser.

"Burt," Anastasia greeted the lawyer that had become one of her many daily acquaintances, and they had dropped the formalities just to be more direct.

"Ana, glad you can make it," Burt stood up and shook her hand and led her over to the table where everyone had gathered. Gretchen took Anastasia's jacket and disappeared efficiently. "How did the meeting go?" He asked vaguely. The reason why Anastasia was late to Bellevue was because she was meeting with Ros and the CFO about the current financial situation of GEH.

"Productive and informative," Anastasia gave an equally vague reply but that was courteous enough.

"Shall we get started?" Burt then turned to the other two around the table across him and Anastasia.

"She's going to stay here?" Grace pointed at the brunette and blurted out, it seemed like a slip of a tongue and maybe it was, but Anastasia had a feeling that this question had been brewing in her mind since her entrance.

"Yes, Mrs Grey, she is staying because she is the legal guardian of Christian Grey," Burt explained. As of now, both of his parents were only informed of the mental problems that their son was suffering from but not in great details either. They were just informed that he was currently unable to make a sound judgment like a sober person and that his therapist strongly advised to isolate him.

Carrick leaned back and crossed his arms before his front, he was feeling very reserved about this young woman before him. Elena's influence had infiltrated way too deeply in their minds that they were starting to doubt their own judgment. Anastasia could clearly remember how she was treated before Elena went heavy with her brainwashing. It was the completely opposite of the current way—she was almost like a daughter to them because she made their son happy.

"These are the documents…" Burt's start of the explanation was rudely interrupted by the loud shrill of Anastasia's phone. She was beginning to get tired of hearing that ringing tone and she was tempted to hurl the phone half way across this very living room like some _guy_ she knew.

"I really am sorry about this," she apologized sincerely. She hated that her phone kept going off these days, and they were all phone calls that she had to answer. It made her wonder how he could sustain all those annoying people calling him all day long without giving him a break. "Please carry on without me," she excused herself and stood up to answer her phone. Grace and Carrick looked relieved that some _outsider _was now gone from their family meeting.

Stepping outside the front porch, she raised the phone to her ear. She was already tired of greeting everyone when she answered the phone even though it was the polite thing to do, but she still hated doing it especially when she had to repeat 'Ana Steele' to the point that she absolutely hated pronouncing her name.

"Hi Ana," it was José, "I have news."

"I hope they're good."

"They are!" José's enthusiasm baffled her. They weren't friend, they weren't close and she had no idea why the family really took a liking to her personally other than she saved the head of the family.

"Okay," she was tempted to tell him that she was in the middle of a meeting but she really wasn't in any mood to return to the cringing glowers from Christian's parents as if she was some kind of enemy that stole their entire asset. She was just thankful that he never asked about her weary monotone.

"So, I talked to my dad."

"Yeah?" _Why did he have to fucking pause like some fucking teaser._

"Told him about what you've done to him and everything in the hospital for his liver transplant."

"Okay?" _What was his point? Get to the point, man!_

"He says thank you, and he really wants to do something for you to pay you back or just to show his appreciation."

"José, really, I'm just doing my job, but I'll take the sentiment."

"Nonsense. So, I told him about the troubles that you are in, and he just happens to love Christian." _That was news to her._ "And, he has agreed to provide you with unlimited funds!" He announced but she didn't know what was the catch in it.

"For?"

"To save your man, duh!"

"Oh… uh… José, I…" Anastasia stared into the space before her. She was flabbergasted to say the least.

"You'll need it. My dad said that there will only be bad news in the future for GEH because a scandal like this is detrimental to a business like his. In his opinion, the only way to save the company and not let it go bankrupt is to have capital."

"Okay… but, José, you are already doing so much for me. Also, the shipyard in Baltimore, I can't ask more from you and your father."

"Oh, don't even mention it. That is nothing. If I told my dad that we are negotiating a deal with GEH, he'd probably just sign it over to you. Don't worry about it, really. What you are asking doesn't even cover our gratitude toward your gesture."

"José, please…" now was one of the many moments where she thought she really didn't deserve their expression of gratitude at this level.

"Just say thank you," José grinned and it was evident in his voice.

"Th- thank you…" she stuttered, still questioning whether she should save herself some dignity and decline the offer and actually save Christian in her own way. She didn't think the situation was _that_ bad.

The line clicked and that was it.

She had shamelessly accepted the free money from some rich guy. Her words suddenly came back hitting her square in her face. Her sugar daddy comment.

Oh, how she regretted ever uttering those words to Christian in the first place. Heat of a moment or not, that was entirely inappropriate and exactly the opposite of Christian's intention. The man loved her like no other and that was how she treated him in return. Yet, she never admitted to pushing him away but when he deliberately ignored her, she took it tenfold.

_Karma is such a bitch._

…

She had no idea how long she had been standing in this empty drive way just pacing its length back and forth trying to make sense of the offer that she had just accepted. She needed something to convince herself, to justify for herself to her conscience that she was doing the right thing.

She just needed someone to tell her that accepting a shitload of money from some stranger so shamelessly to help the love of her life that was on the verge of being submitted into a psych ward, was a justifiable action. It didn't have to be a norm but she just needed some sort of explanation to show that she wasn't some kind of gold-digging slut that purposefully slept with a bunch of rich men just to ensure that someone would want to grant her monetary funds to save her when she was in destitution.

"How long have you been out here taking that phone call?" The demand from Burt snapped her out of her musings, it was frustrating that she was bothered by something but didn't know what exactly it was and how to get rid of that feeling.

"I'm sorry; am I needed?"

"Yes," he nodded.

She followed him back in.

"You need to sign the papers on behalf of Mr Grey," she informed her as he pushed the pen and papers into her sight. They were already signed by both parents and she just knew that no matter what, they would be helping their son.

"Is there no other way around this, Mr Whitmore?" Carrick, always in lawyer mode lately whenever she was around, demanded.

"My son isn't insane! He hasn't been diagnosed with insanity for god's sake. You doing this should be illegal!" Grace exclaimed, eyeing Anastasia vilely.

Anastasia said nothing and ignored both of their cries as she continued to read the pages that she had been reading over and over again since receiving them a month ago. She just wanted to make sure that this was the correct paper and she was also trying to focus as well as drown out the outbursts. She knew it wasn't a pleasant sight for the parents to see her here, acting as her son's power of attorney.

Burt went on explaining everything as much as he could without revealing too much, and also he didn't know the diagnosis from Flynn. Only she and Taylor were present.

When she finished signing on both documents and put down the pen, she noticed that Burt was still in some sort of argument with the Greys and she knew that wouldn't be the best moment to hand back the pages.

So, she sat back in her seat and her mind went back to the phone call from José.

Her peacefulness was disrupted once again by her phone. She was really hating this tone now. After this whole debacle was over, she swore she wouldn't even touch a phone again, let alone own one. She had had enough phone calls these couple of months to last a lifetime.

"I am so sorry," she almost wanted to cry when she realized that it was her phone that was making the noises _again_. She cringed under the glares from the Greys and the slightly disapproving look from Burt as she ducked out of the living room. "Oh, what the fuck?" She was now really contemplating on smashing her phone onto the cement ground when she saw the caller.

"Ana, hey!"

"Oh my god, what do you want, Adam?"

"What's the matter? I know it's probably too early in the morning."

"Do you even watch the news from the States? Or is that scandal that I'm part of not entertaining enough for you?" She snapped irritatedly, spitting out the words with venom, though it wasn't directed at the person on the other side.

"What crawled up your ass and died?" _Adam, always the dramatic._

"Some rat ass who can't keep their mouth shut about the fucking past with Christian."

"Okay, you've clearly had better days. I get it. I won't beat around the bush, I just want to tell you that I'm coming back for a short visit and your colleagues got you something. A present."

"What?" Anastasia knew that her voice had raised more than an octave higher when she heard both news. "What colleagues?"

"Your lab partners from last Valentine's Day." She heard the snicker from Adam following that statement. "They've missed you this year."

"Did they think that I'd still be single this year?"

"Well, you are."

She huffed. "Fine, what else?"

"Oh, that's just it. They're just missing your very typical American accent."

"I forgot that I was with a bunch of Danish singles," she deadpanned.

"So, when do I get to see you?"

"When are you arriving? I have to check because I don't even have a schedule."

Their talk was once again interrupted by Burt.

"You are one busy bee," he half-teased.

"Is that a male I heard?"

"Yes, that's Christian's lawyer, now go back to being bored and keep waiting for that flight. Or take an afternoon nap or whatever. I have to go, bye."

She hung up without even waiting for his response and turned back to Burt.

"Okay, start talking before someone else calls me. I think it might be Ros's turn next," Anastasia meant that for a joke but it really was at the expense of the reality that she was living in.

"They're done arguing with me, for now…" that was the first time Burt had shown a hint of unprofessionalism, and they must really had gotten on his nerves for him to feel like that.

"So, are we ready to go?"

"I think they still want to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Your role in this entire thing."

"What thing? And, what role? Like if I've caused this whole fucked-up mess?" Anastasia threw every manner she had nurtured out of the window for a moment because she was really vexed beyond word could describe at the moment. Not to say, tired. Burt and the people at GEH were really great help but she was still always on edge because she had no idea what to do most of the times, and it was rising her anxiety level, and now the parents weren't trusting her.

It was one thing that they simply distrust her, because she could understand, given how much shit Elena had dumped in their heads beforehand. However, it was an entirely different thing when they acted on their skepticism. It was starting to get on her nerves and she was on the verge of snapping and saying 'that was the final straw!'

"Oh, saved by the bell," Anastasia literally rolled her eyes in sardonically at her vibrating phone in her hand. "Could you please go in and tell them that they can meet with me at Grey House or something? Like some other time? I can't just sit here for their drama and listen to their little insinuations pretending like I've got nothing to do. They can find another time to demonstrate…" she stopped herself before she said something even more rude and insulting than what she had been implying. "Sorry," she apologized dutifully remembering her professionalism. "Just tell them I can meet with them another time, I gotta run now."

The phone stopped vibrating and it went to voicemail. She just prayed that it wasn't Ros because if she called back, there was a greater chance that she would go to her voicemail. It pinned again, and a voicemail had arrived.

Burt nodded and went back inside, Anastasia quickly ran to her car and connected her phone to the hands-off so she could listen to the voicemail from whoever it was that chose the perfect time to call her. She wasn't in a rush to be anywhere at the moment, but she just wanted to get out of the place so she could avoid more drama from the Greys. Though, their reactions were understandable but she wished they were more like their children.

_"Ana, it's me. I don't know what exactly is going on in your life right now because I am up-to-date with the news and the scandal. Anyway, I just want to tell you that I'm coming to Seattle for a few days, and I've just landed. Call me back so we can meet up?"_

_Kate_, Anastasia sighed.

She thought she would be relieved that her best friend was going to be here and she could finally tell her everything in person to get some pressure off of her shoulder, but that thought didn't lighten her mood any bit.

"Kate," she greeted, now mindlessly driving around the state, following the green light and wherever there were less cars.

"You sound really tired, Steele."

"I am," she groaned. "I have no idea how I am even surviving these past couple of months. I feel like I'm the most popular woman in the world right now with everyone calling me every five minutes. I swear, I can't even sit down to conduct a meeting with the Greys and Christian's lawyer without someone calling me and interrupting the meeting."

"You could've let it go to voicemail like you do to me."

"I didn't do that on purpose. I have to answer every phone call these days because who knows if they'll be available when I call back."

"You sure are busy," Kate whistled lightly. "But, um…" she said with trepidation, "my dad summoned me and I've got an assignment in Seattle, so I'll be here for a few days. Do you have time? We can meet up? Or do you not have time for that?"

Anastasia groaned out loud this time.

"I swear you people have the best timing."

"Why?"

"Adam just called me not even twenty minutes ago, telling me that he's going to be back and asking if he can meet up with me."

"You really are popular."

"That's not the fucking point!" Anastasia screeched.

"I know, I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Anastasia didn't get a chance to reply when a deeper voice was heard.

"Kate?"

"I'm still here, sorry."

"Are you with someone right now? We can talk later."

"No, it's just my Dom."

"Your Dom?" Thank god she was driving down an empty neighborhood because she was sure if the road wasn't wide enough she would crash into one of the expensive looking houses.

"Yeah, he's coming over for business."

"Oh," Anastasia still hadn't recovered from her surprise. "Is he a new one?"

"Not really. Oh! I didn't tell you about him? I didn't tell you that I ended my contract with that asshole?"

"Who? Wait, what?"

"Okay, so my first Dom, the one that I told you about during Easter. Well, that guys is shit and it's an absolute ass!"

"Okay… what happened for him to warrant that colorful name?"

"He ignored my safewords."

"Oh, shit…" she knew that was a big no-no in the community.

"So I dumped his ass."

"So you should!" She echoed indignantly.

"But, stupid me didn't."

"Are you dumb? Kate, don't play into the stereotype. You're a smart blonde."

"I know, and Malcolm has already cursed me out for not terminating it sooner."

"Wait, Malcolm? Since when are you on first-name basis with your Dom, Kate?"

"He doesn't want TPE."

"Oh, wait, you and that dumb-ass you called a Dom were in a TPE relationship?"

"Apparently, I didn't do enough research and I was groomed into a TPE without knowing about it. I thought that's how those kind of relationship works."

"Kate," Anastasia tutted.

"You really don't sound like a BDSM-virgin, Ana. Admit it, you subbed for him."

Anastasia rolled her eyes and ignored her.

"So, is this Malcom like… your boyfriend outside of the…" she thought about calling it a dungeon like how everyone called it but didn't want it to sound so cold. So she went about the word playroom but then recalled that just because Christian called it that didn't mean every other Dom used the same name. In the end, she chose to play it safe by saying, "scene?"

"You can say that but not really."

"That is so confusing. So, friends with benefit?"

"Something like that."

"You are being very vague right now, is that because he's sitting right next to you or am I on speaker?"

"You're not on speaker but he is driving and we're in a rental car. He's dropping me at KM and dropping out stuff at the hotel."

KM, also known as Kavanagh Media, was to-be family legacy of the Kavanagh family. At least that was the impression Eamon, Kate's father, was giving. Though, Dana, Kate's mother thought it was a ridiculous idea since none of their children knew a single thing about running a business and wasn't a bit interested.

"O- kay… so you don't have feelings for him?"

"Not yet, but I think if we continue like that…"

"You might develop feelings for him?" She finished for her.

"Yeah…" Kate fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, rolling the edge in her fingers. "How's Taco?"

"I sent him to Christian."

"What does that mean?"

"It's a long story but I will tell you when we meet up, where are you staying? I'm staying with Ethan right now."

"I'll stay with Malcolm in his hotel. His company booked him some very fancy place."

"What does he do?"

"Same as Ethan."

"An architect? Why's he here then?"

"Because-"

"Fuck," Anastasia cursed rather loudly at the signalling of another incoming call. "Kate," her cursing had already interrupted the blonde, "I need to go, there's someone calling me right now. Text me and we can find a time or something."

"Okay, bye," Kate hang up efficiently and Anastasia answered the call from Ros.

"I thought I was going to get your call sooner," she said without much of a greeting once the call connected.

"That was my intention but I got held up in a meeting with the CFO."

"Any remotely positive updates?" Anastasia didn't know how she could possibly remain sane at the speed she was receiving bad news one after another, but her current motivation was Christian and to keep his legacy afloat. It was his hard work and she knew that he had poured his heart and soul into building this empire. Her career could be put on-hold for now because he needed her more right now.

Ros's sigh was everything that Anastasia needed to hear to know what was coming next and she was just about to say something, Ros said. "The dent is getting deeper."

Meaning, they were losing investors and money each day. And they were making deficit rather than profit at the moment overall.

"The CFO managed to clear a few urgent debts but we're about to turn in the Mile High. We've already mortgaged a few smaller and less significant infrastructures but I understand that this club holds some kind of meaning for the two of you?"

"Yeah," Anastasia sighed. GEH was starting to sell subsidiary companies now because they needed the capital in cash. "How much money are we talking about?"

"Right now, in the thousands."

"Is the shipyard going to cancel the deficit?"

"Probably only to sustain this quarter. Our subsidiaries are hurt and the chances for the shipyard to take off are thin, so unless there's a way to utilize that shipyard to its greatest, we might need to borrow money."

"And to get into a debt-cycle? No thanks."

"Ana, that's the only way."

"What else are you planning on mortgaging next?"

"The penthouse and the jet. We're starting with the lower value properties."

"_Christian's_ penthouse? _His_ jet?"

"He paid for the penthouse in cash but he didn't for the jet. The jet was registered under GEH and so is the penthouse."

"So, he loaned money to buy the jet? And, technically, they're the company's property?"

"Yes, so the bank will be asking for it if payments aren't made each month. And, he hasn't been paying for it since the start of this year. And, since this is his company and it isn't in stock, it is the same as his."

"No, no. The penthouse, the jet and the club aren't going anywhere," Anastasia said determinedly. "Just tell me the number and I'll get it sorted. Meanwhile, forget about it and focus on pushing the shipyard deal through."

Ros knew better to argue, she was very familiar with that tone. It used to be one that she heard on a daily basis in the workplace.

"Can you tell me this though," Anastasia thought about hanging up but a string of questions suddenly flew into her mind. She had no idea when she had such a mindset but it surely was helping at the moment. "When is the bank foreclosing on the jet and the penthouse?"

"The Mile High Club will also be foreclosed," Ros added.

"We leased the land? I thought it came with the club."

"No, the land belongs to the bank or someone that's mortgaged it to the bank to clear debts."

"So, when does the bank forecloses on all three of them?"

"Different banks," Ros corrected. "The penthouse and the jet in June and the Mile High Club… probably around July or late June."

"So, basically all around June."

"Basically, yes."

"How much?"

"I don't know the exact figure."

"Just give me an idea."

"Altogether, probably like, something around ten million. Definitely less than fifteen."

"Jesus fuck! You're talking about this as if it isn't millions of _dollars_. Perhaps we're talking about leaves on some trees?"

"The jet is the biggest portion."

"How much did the jet cost?"

"Like forty-million?"

"Forty! Million!" If she wasn't on an empty road she was sure the cars behind her would be kissing her rear right now. "I think I'm going to have a heart attack," she muttered. "What about the penthouse?"

"The cost?"

Anastasia heard the sound of shuffling papers and she knew that Ros was looking at their expenditure. Though, she had to admit that the jet did come in handy even though she was sure that it costed him a fortune and he probably cashed in his entire credit system to get the bank to loan him that much money.

"Nine, including decorations and all the miscellaneous."

"We're talking in millions?" Anastasia just had to torture herself to make sure when she knew that in the back of her mind.

"Yes, we are. The Mile High is probably the cheapest since it was trashy before us."

"Okay, so how much?"

"Five-hundred."

"Thousand, right?" She held her breath and she could feel her heart beating against her throat ready to jump out if this ended up with a unit of in millions.

"Yep, thousands," the book snapped closed and Anastasia jumped in her seat despite the sound coming from the other side of the phone.

"Fuck, I am in shock…" she murmured to herself as she turned back to the main road so she could head home and settle her nerves a little. "Christian has been doing pretty well at paying back those personal debts then," she concluded, forcing herself to think on the positive side.

"Yes! That's a given. He's paid back most of the jet's loan but not much of the rent. He's been neglecting to pay the rent after acquiring the club."

"Did he pay in full for the club?"

"An investor did."

"That's included in the ten to fifteen million that I have to secure right?"

"Yes."

"Oh, good. I think I'll faint and die in a car crash if you're going to tell me that I'm looking at a figure in the twenties or something."

"The club is pretty cheap. Relatively," Ros placated. "It's a shitty place before we acquired it. The investor mainly provided the fund for re-decoration and everything but the club isn't the largest portion in that ten to fifteen million."

"So, I gather that investor for the club has also dropped their balls?"

"You are correct."

"Fucking hell!"

"I know, but are you sure you can get that much in a matter of few months? I don't want you to be in debt."

"I won't," Anastasia muttered with as much confidence as she was feeling at the moment, which was very little. However, she was going to give up her dignity and shamelessly take advantage of the unlimited funds from the Rodriguez, and for once, live up to her 'lifesaver' title.

For Christian, she was willing to do everything.

Perhaps, a part of her was willing to forget about her own pride and modesty for once to make up for the choices that she made all those years ago. She believed that her hardcore deal and insistent on remaining friends with Christian contributed to his breakdown and did nothing to strengthen his mentality. He was already insecure and she only encouraged the feeling.

Right now, she couldn't let guilt eat her up, but she was going to utilize that guilt as her motivation to forget about herself and think about that man she vowed she loved more than life itself.

A few years ago, when he needed her the most, she kept her distance, and now it seemed like it was too late.

And, she refused to believe that she was too late before she had tried everything she could.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	27. Downfall

_**Downfall**_

The only legit architect Anastasia knew was Ethan Kavanagh, and in her layman thinking, she knew another person who designed stuff. Gia Matteo, even though she was an interior designer and probably didn't make as much as Ethan; theoretically. Yet, she knew what Gia's client list was like, so she wouldn't be surprised if she was some kind of millionaire just in a few years' time while Ethan was still stuck with his few hundred thousand salary.

It was refreshing to meet another one. A blond, too.

_Why were those people all have yellowish hair? Was that a requirement to qualify for the job or what?_

That was a fleeting thought that ran through her mind when she first met Malcolm. She was invited to their suite in some fancy hotel that she couldn't bother remembering the name of. It wasn't Four Seasons or the type that Christian would take her.

It was awkward at first, intruding into another couple's make-shift home. She felt even more embarrassed knowing that it was a man, who was a complete stranger to her, that owned the temporary home her best friend was staying at.

"How did it go with your dad?" Anastasia asked Kate when Malcolm stood up to give them some privacy as he went to the other room to work on his blueprint. She still had no idea why he was called to Seattle in the first place but if Kate said it was for his job, then so be it.

"Nothing major, he just wants to know the deal with Grey."

"I'm glad someone doesn't believe those bullshit," Anastasia deadpanned wryly.

"Oh, he did. He thought I would know more about him since he's always known that I want to interview him."

"Do you still want to?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't think he'll answer the questions that I want to ask."

"What kind of questions?"

"Personal ones. I mean, his personal life _is_ now splattered across the internet for every housewife or whoever cares to judge."

"Your point?"

"I'd like to interview him to settle some of the misunderstandings people have about him."

"Why does it matter?"

"The support of the public is important, Ana. Especially in a cutthroat industry that he's in. He'll need it if he wants to stand back on his two feet in the future after he recovers."

"Is that also reported? His current state."

"No, but he's not been spotted lately and he's not with you, so I can only deduce he's turned into some kind of hermit."

"You can say that," Anastasia grimaced. "But, if you think writing a few articles to bring his past to light can do him justice, then perhaps you can schedule an interview with him later in the year? Give him some time with his therapist and I will ask for you. Though, given that he's really got nothing to hide, I think it's best if we do try to justify it through the media."

Kate nodded. "Are you going to tell me about him?"

"No, should I?"

"I mean, I did help you two maintain contact, in some ways," Kate gloated. "He is somewhat like a friend, and I'm using that term very loosely."

"He's more than just an acquaintance but not friendly enough?"

"No, we're only being so nice to each other because we both love you."

Anastasia's lips trembled as she struggled to get words out of her mouth. She hadn't formulated a sentence in her mind and she had no idea what to say to her best friend after that statement. She was already regretting her stubborn choices she made all those years back and hated herself for not approaching the situation in a more wholesome attitude.

Alas, she was saved by the bell, once again.

"Fuck," she picked up her phone, sending Kate an apologetic look—one that she was sure she had already mastered since she had been doing it way too often.

"Take it, I understand," Kate prompted.

"Ana," this voice sounded slightly familiar but she couldn't name the speaker. It was a phone number that she hadn't saved.

"Yes?"

"I'm Welch," the advisor had probably sensed the apprehensiveness in her one-word answer so he elaborated.

"Oh, hi," she was taken aback by his use of her first name. It wasn't like she minded but she was under the impression that everyone working under Christian was a tight and serious ass.

"There's no better way to say this, so I'm just going to tell you upfront."

"Did something happen to Christian?" She would be the first one to be informed if something indeed happened.

"No, but your Instagram account has been hacked."

"What?" Anastasia's head snapped up to meet Kate's eyes. They were also in astonishment and for a second the brunette thought she had answered her phone on speaker.

"Barney has already deleted your account and as many evidence as he can find to not associate any of this to you, but it has gone viral."

"I'm sorry, I'm not following," Anastasia said flabbergasted but her confusion was instantly cleared when Kate shoved her phone in her face. "Oh, fuck…" was all she could make out when she saw what seemed to be short reports after reports online about how there were negative comments and statement posted about Christian on her account. Then, to make everything worse, there were photos of brunette women in compromising positions, and she recognized them as insurance pictures of Christian's former submissives. The only thing was, the caption said otherwise.

"Elena didn't do this directly but we can't rule out the possibility of her hiring some hacker to do so."

"The captions says that the nude pictures are of _me_?" Anastasia shrieked as she continued to scan through the news that Kate had dug out. "The damage has been done hasn't it?"

"Unfortunately."

"Does Christian know about this?"

"No, we aren't allowed to be in contact with him. Jason, Luke, Gail, and John are the only people permitted to be near him. Well, and Taco."

Anastasia chuckled lightly, appreciating his attempt to make light of the situation. Her eyes went back to the posts allegedly coming from her.

"They're putting the blame on me now?"

"It's heading that way."

She sighed heavily, sharing a wary look with Kate.

"As long as Christian doesn't know… I'll be fine," Anastasia decided.

"I'll send Luke to you. He will be standing guard at the door of the hotel room you're currently in."

"You tracked my phone didn't you," Anastasia stated dryly, it wasn't even a question anymore.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I understand."

After they hung up, Anastasia made a decision. This was going to be the first major decision she was going to make as Christian's power of attorney. She knew he wouldn't be happy about it when he heard it but she had to do it.

"Ask me the questions that you intend to ask Christian and I will tell you as much as I can. We need to get those pages ready just in case."

"Ana…" Kate stared at her best friend who now appeared more than distressed. "You want to fake an interview?"

"Yes," she answered determinedly without missing a beat. "After all the news they faked, I think it's not illegal for us to fake something. At least, the content of this interview is genuine."

"What prompted it?" Anastasia glared at her for even asking this question, the answer was so obvious. "Right," the blonde giggled at her friend's behavior, it was very unlike her. At least it was a side that she had never seen before.

"When do you want to start this proxy interview?"

Before Anastasia could even think of an answer, the door to the master suite opened the Malcolm walked out with his phone in his hand.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but Kate," he approached her and showed her the content on his phone. "Have you seen this?"

"We just did. Ana just got a call from her security advisor about it."

"You have a security advisor?"

Anastasia smiled awkwardly and shook her head but she couldn't get a word out because Kate beat her to it.

"She's Christian's girl. I've told you about her."

"You've what?" Said Christian's girl couldn't help but squeak, staring at her best friend with the widest eyes.

"He knows Christian from the lifestyle." Kate explained.

"Grey?" Anastasia knew that was a no-brainer but she just needed to get used to the fact that she was indeed in the room of a BDSM couple.

"Yes, Christian Grey. I'm sorry, I didn't connect the dots earlier. I knew you looked familiar," Malcolm apologized dutifully.

And, Anastasia was again struck speechless by the gesture.

"You knew him?" Was all she could utter, her mind was still stuck in that previous admission.

"Yes, we are very highly sought after Dominants."

Anastasia groaned, she didn't want to be sick in front of them but it still bothered her when she was reminded of Christian in the throes of passion from fucking other women. "Oh, god." She cupped her throat and actually applied some pressure to physically squeeze the bile back down her esophagus. Her face paled a degree and when she looked back up, her eyes were damp.

"Those are unpublished pictures," Malcom continued oblivious to Anastasia's reaction and the latter composed herself quick enough to brush off Kate's glare of inquisition.

"What?" Anastasia choked once again, and this time Kate looked seriously concerned. She took a closer look at the images.

"They are of different women," Kate stated and none of the people in the room seemed to notice that Kate had paid close attention to each of the bodies of the submissives to identify them as different women from the previous released ones.

"This has Elena written all over it," Malcolm muttered.

Those events were occurring too fast for Anastasia's liking, she hadn't even had time to process each of the new information she gathered in this room. Or her mind just couldn't catch up with the flow of this conversation.

"What?" Anastasia was almost aware of her stupefied look, she swore she knew more than that one word but that was like the only vocabulary she had right now. "You know her?"

"Elena? Sure, everyone in the community has more or less heard of her. She's infamous for wanting the submissives to sign documents."

"An NDA?"

"More than that. Legal binding documents."

"Like?"

"I don't know, I'm not close to her. Grey is, at least that's the impression I got. She's pimping for a lot of men like him. They can't risked to be seen in those taboo clubs so she volunteered to find girls for them so she could make a few pennies here and there. She took pictures as a measure of insurance to gag those girls before she hand them off to the men."

"Oh my god," Anastasia's face was now deathly pale. She knew that Elena probably had something to do with Christian's method of Domination but she didn't realize that her influences were infiltrated so deeply in his blood.

"So, given your reaction, I can only assume that Elena got Grey to take pictures of his girls?"

Anastasia nodded mutely, her face now buried in her palms. This was not how she anticipated to spend an afternoon with her best friend. In spite of her tight schedule, she agreed to give up going back to the hospital to meet up with her.

What she really wanted to do with Kate was catch up and ask what exactly it was that she was working on in Seattle, but she never got that chance. She was hit square in the face with updates regarding her beloved.

And, now it seemed like more people knew about Christian's secret than he let on, or more than he believed.

"Christian is going to kill me…" she mumbled to herself like a madwoman. Christian was barely capable of taking care of himself, there would be very little he could do about her with whatever she had decided. Yet, she still felt like she was betraying his confidence.

"Ana?" Kate reached out to touch the arm of her friend's lightly and tentatively. She gently prodded her trying to elicit a reaction out of the frozen, rigid body.

"I'm okay," Anastasia looked up suddenly. "I'm fine. Interview me, now, Kate!"

…

After dishing out the sordid details of Christian's past as best as she could and answering Kate's question with as many details as she could provide, given that she was the second account and not a witness. She felt bad, even worse than when she realized that there was a time in her life where she could have both a thriving career as well as a wonderful personal life, and she chose to throw that love away.

And, now, she had neither.

Her career was on-hold and affected by the scandal.

The love of her life was on the verge of tipping over into insanity and going into a psych ward.

Lastly, here she was, blatantly spreading little white lies to the public as a desperate measure.

Granted, not all of her words were fake but she had no idea how much truth her words actually held. Though, no one was going to stand up and call her out on her bullshit now. Elena wasn't going to admit it and the pimp was long dead.

"Do you think Elena has other victims?"

Anastasia thought hard and recollected something Taylor had mentioned to her when Flynn announced his plans to start Christian's intense therapy.

"Yes, I believe she has."

"Do you have any evidence?" Kate continued to ask, though she had discreetly turned off the recorder having a feeling that this would be off-record.

"I believe so," Anastasia pondered.

"Good," the brunette's eyes were wide as saucers at that reaction. "Sue her."

"What?"

"She used your account to release pictures… I highly doubt that it's her behind your account being hacked," she added superstitiously. "And, this was of a different girl. There are like more than two pictures posted from your account and they're both of two different girls. Then, if you look closely," Kate continued, taking out her phone and scrolling through the articles and images that she had bookmarked like a true detective, or journalist because that was her job. "The previous pictures are of three different brunette girls. Though, I do have to say that Christian does have a peculiar taste for petite brunette women."

If Kate had made this discovery, surely everyone else would've already came to this conclusion.

Color never returned on Anastasia and she looked even more sick now. It was no wonder people were refusing to work with him and pulling away from him as fast as they could, avoiding his company like a plague.

He had a very _singular_ type.

"I swear they are all from Elena," Anastasia had no idea what she was saying or where she was going with the conversation but she had to convince herself that her suspicion was correct. "There are five in total, at least before me Christian had five submissives. He told me that two are married and there are three hovering around."

"I am assuming that the three of them are younger than him?" Malcolm interjected for the first time since sitting there for the past few hours listening to the girls' talk. There was no reason for him to sit out anymore. He knew both Elena and Christian from the lifestyle and it wasn't like Christian's life was any secret from the public eye anyway.

"Yes, they are. The other two are married and they were never attached to Christian. Someone told me that and I can't remember clearly whether it's Taylor or Christian. Everything is so blurry right now. I feel like my mind is going into an overdrive at the moment," Anastasia clawed at her head frustratedly trying to straighten her thoughts.

The silence was deafening and she came to no conclusion other than one.

"Oh, fucking god…" she moaned. She really felt like breaking down and just cry till she passed out. "This is not happening… if they're both married, I can already see law-suits flying my way. That's another million to the debt," she couldn't even cry if she wanted to.

…

The ringing of her phone broke the ice in the room. Anastasia was still deep in her thoughts with her hands almost ripping and tearing her scalp out. When she reached for the phone, her hands were shaking and then it was her entire body.

She was trembling.

"Taylor," there was a hint of relief in her tone as she answered the phone after checking the ID with the same tenseness.

"I have good news," that did nothing to help get rid of the rigidness in her muscles. There was nothing to make relax unless she was personally confirmed from the two women that they wouldn't be suing her for invading their privacy and posting porn.

"Okay," she held her breath as she waited.

"We've traced the pictures and found the rest of Elena's storage album."

"Wait," that was actually quite relieving. Though, it didn't have the affect that she wished it would have to her nerves but it was a good news nonetheless. "So, you've found the database that she's been hiding? The files from Christian?"

"More than the files from Christian." She could hear the smugness in his voice. "There are logs of the other important men that she's pimped for. Though, she doesn't have as much on them as she has on Christian."

"What are you doing with it now?"

"Right now? We copy it over because we can't let her detect that her secret was found. It was under a guy named Isaac Hyde."

"Is that the kid's last name?"

"No, but the last name is not registered and the pimp isn't named Hyde. There's also evidence of that child in the files."

"Keep it. We need to collect evidence against her. Dig up the security tape and stuff from whenever Christian and Elena meet. I want to sue her," the news gave Anastasia a new found confidence.

There was a smile ghosting on her lips after she hang up the phone with Taylor. Her official evidence collecting would start in April but it was already the end of March, so why not?

…

Nevertheless, if there was a good news, then there would be bad news. And, she wasn't naïve enough to think that this curse wouldn't hit her; knowing her luck, she knew it would hit her square in the face like a bitch slap.

"When would you want the articles published? Under Kaetlyn, of course." Kate asked, bringing Anastasia out of her darkened thought. Malcolm eyed her morphing expression curiously, it was like watching Grey when he witnessed a scene in those clubs. They were so alike in those small intricate things.

"You're not going to publish them together, are you?"

"No, definitely not! But, we need to time it right. Can't have a repeat of last time, can I?"

They had learned from the last mistake when Kate published her article about the BDSM lifestyle too briskly that she doubted anyone would take it word by word and seriously.

"Maybe you can talk to Malcolm about it?" Anastasia didn't no why she was suggesting it but she just didn't feel like doing more thinking at the moment. "I mean, if you're willing to discuss this with him, of course." She flustered and quickly explained why she pulled him in.

"I'd be happy to help," Malcolm replied with as much sincerity. "I know Grey personally, he's a good man and he's a pretty decent Dom from what I heard. His subs fall for him really easily, rumor has it."

…

"Rumor has it, Christian's been doing really well?" The limelight was once again shining on her and she couldn't even make it out of a building without Sawyer shielding her and physically pushing through the crowd.

"He has," Sawyer answered in an upbeat manner. "Flynn's really satisfied."

"I'm glad. At least one of us is making progress," she sighed but she was still very happy to hear about Christian doing so well.

"Taco helped a lot and Flynn thinks he's ready to go back to the office or at least start with something light about work in June."

"Really? Why didn't Flynn tell me that? All he's been telling me was he's making progress and doing really well. Nothing else."

"He is vague with me and Taylor, too. We just overheard part of their conversation accidentally in the house and we also see him on a daily basis and he's doing really well now that his mind is off the whole mess."

"Yeah, the mess that I'm currently in."

Sawyer didn't say anything, he simply shrugged as he squeezed Anastasia through the bunch of rich drunk fuckers that were heading back to their room, going the opposite direction as the two of them. She was almost squashed to the wall and Sawyer was shielding her from being touched by any of those men. They weren't even sober enough to move out of the way instead, they just all push over Anastasia.

"I thought this hotel is supposed to be prestigious," she grunted as she pushed herself off of the wall that she was nearly stuck in. Sawyer steadied her when she stumbled a little to regain her balance.

"So did I," he grumbled in agreement. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a little bit squashed. I guess that's the fate of a mosquito resting against some wall in your bedroom when you're asleep."

Sawyer stifled back a laugh at her seriously injured expression.

"I can't wait to sleep this day off," she yawned. "I don't even want to eat dinner even if Ethan is cooking." She said to no one but Sawyer humored her by humming and nodding in response. "I still have to meet with Burt and then get the siblings to sign those fucking documents."

It certainly wasn't lost on him that she had developed a sailor mouth since Grey fell off of the face of the Earth and dropped all of the weight on her shoulders. He would've fallen onto his knees if he was in her position and a little bit of cussing was nothing.

…

"I'm on my way over," Anastasia was going to meet up with Kate in the morning before she head over to Elliot's place to meet up with Burt and the legal documents. Mia was still staying with her older brother simply because she couldn't stomach the thought of their oblivious and ignorant parents.

"Don't bother," Kate's voice sounded through the stereo of the car.

It still bothered Anastasia that Ros decided to cash in Christian's penthouse, jet and the club instead of his fleet of expensive cars. The cars weren't worth as much as the jet or the penthouse but it was definitely somewhat similar to the club. She was very certain that the first thing he did whenever he had some spare money at hand was hunt for another car, because she swore all of those toys in his garage were paid in full and top of the line, as well as brand new.

His garage was enough evidence to show off his wealth, and he said his next target toy was a helicopter. Anastasia never really thought twice about that wish of his because she knew for a fact that he was simply too busy to take flying lessons, and he told her that he planned on buying it and taking lessons for it as his reward to himself when he became a billionaire.

He had another condition though—he had to become a billionaire before the age of thirty.

She thought that simply too strict a rule.

And now, when she thought about it, she could've bought him flying lessons as one of his birthday gifts, or whatever gifts. She really didn't need a reason to buy him things.

"Ana?"

"Yeah, I'm still here."

"Did you hear what I said?"

"No," she admitted sheepishly. Her mind was still stuck on the fact that she wouldn't sell anything that belonged to Christian, and she was just coming up with methods to approach José about this outrageous request for millions of dollars without feeling guilty about not needing to pay it back.

"I said we'll meet at Ethan's place, I need to go to my dad's office and then to Amazon headquarter."

"Amazon?" Her focal point was always so different from others. What she really wanted to complain about was driving all the way out only to be told that she needed to return.

"My assignment."

"Okay," and that was supposed to be an informative answer but her assignments were always confidential. _Reporters aren't supposed to keep secrets_, she grumbled to herself in her mind as she made a U-turn like an idiot who couldn't read the map.

…

If that U-turn was anything embarrassing, then this would be downright awkward.

"Kate," Anastasia called her best friend for the last time before she had to go meet up with the siblings. They were supposed to have lunch at the Mile High Club, which was now some high-end restaurant. Still, she was going to keep this place for GEH. "I know you're busy and everything, and I'm sorry to leave you hundreds of voice messages and texts this morning. This is the last one, I promise. I just need to tell you that I am going to lunch with the Grey siblings and you are welcomed to join us at the Mile High if you want."

She ended the message before she could think about anything else to rant or ramble about. When her best friend told her that she'd only have to be at Amazon for a brief time, she didn't think that would mean the entire morning and radio silent.

When she arrived at the restaurant, she didn't even have to give her name before she was led to the private booth that she reserved for them.

_Guess I was becoming more popular as days go by._ She pursed her lips and thought wryly.

Being welcomed into open arms and greeted so warmly certainly wasn't what she had anticipated from the siblings after her Instagram had been hacked and subsequently deleted. There were still screenshots flowing around the internet that Barney and Welch had no means of controlling.

"My friend might be joining us, do you guys mind?" After they both shook their heads she moved closer to the table. Then she remembered that both of the siblings knew Kate. "It's Kate."

"Ana, how are you?" Elliot, finally showing his chivalrous side, was the first one to greet her after she took her seat opposite of the siblings. He had hid his slightly uncomfortable look when he heard who was going to join them.

"As well as I can be under the circumstances, I guess," she could detect that there was no malice coming from both of them and only genuine sympathy and care.

"What happened to your Instagram? I know that you didn't post those pictures." Mia frowned with concern.

"It was hacked."

"Oh god, could this be…" Mia glanced around cautiously but still unwilling to say the name.

"We don't know," it was the last thing Anastasia wanted to talk or think about but she really couldn't expect any other topic come on to the table, after all that was _the_ most talked about subject particularly in Seattle. "Luckily my parents don't know about it."

"Your parents don't know about this whole thing?" Elliot asked incredulously.

"They live under the rock, and I only pray to god that no reporters find them and approaches them with questions. My mom would be polite but my dad would probably just reach for his gun."

"Shoot first and ask questions later," Elliot chuckled liking a straightforward guy like Ray.

"They _don't_ know about what's going on with Christian?" Mia just had to double check, still unable to believe that anyone could miss a news this big.

"I'm sure that's the talk of the town at the moment, but people in Montesano tends to stick to themselves. My parents aren't the kind to believe anything people say or reported unless they've seen it with their eyes."

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late," Kate rushed to the booth they were at, slightly out of breath. Her eyes were solely focused on Anastasia and it was only until she sat down that she noticed the rest of the party. "Oh," her eyes lingered on Elliot awkwardly. "I'm so sorry for interrupting…"

"It's okay," Mia smiled politely and kindly, she had been given a heads-up about Kate. Besides, they used to hang out together, even though it was years ago.

So, in true Katherine Kavanagh fashion, Kate planted her ass back down firmly on the booth she shard with Anastasia and reacquainted with Mia once both girls recognized each other. There was only a moment of awkwardness in the air, but that soon disappeared.

"Do you remember her?" Anastasia leaned forward and whispered to Elliot after kicking him under the table to get his attention. A wicked grin stretched lazily across her lips when she noticed him purposely avoiding her gaze.

He glanced up and their eyes met briefly, Anastasia could see something flashing through both of their orbs but Mia was too busy gushing about Kate's dress and her fashion taste to notice. Fortunately.

Turning back, he gave her the slightest nod.

"Aww… isn't this awkward," she teased mercilessly. "You should still say hi, you know? Just to prevent your sister from asking questions."

"Too late," the sister interjected their quiet whispering. "Did you think I'd forget that time where I had _two_ girls to hangout with," she pointed at Kate, "and, you didn't say anything to him," she jabbed her thumb at Elliot.

Anastasia smirked at an uncomfortable looking Elliot. It was so unusual for him to look like that. Kate on the other hand only appeared slightly uncomfortable and was flighty with her hands whenever she looked in his direction.

"When did the two of you officially break up? Or, were you two actually never officially together?" Mia gestured between the two of them and when both eyes landed on Anastasia, she only shrugged and took a sip of her drink.

_Bitch._

Both of them thought while glaring at her.

"It's a one night stand."

"Of course," Mia rolled her eyes at his brother. "Then, why did you bring her over? I mean no offense to you, Kate, but Elliot, you introduced her as your _girlfriend_. I still remember, you know?"

Anastasia giggled and blew out a mouthful of air trying to contain her laughters. She really wanted to just let loose and enjoy herself while she still could, because she knew what was coming next but the siblings didn't.

"When?" Mia stressed the word.

"Years ago. We never really were together, we just hooked up," Kate replied nonchalantly.

"She must be one hell of a stand if it got you acting all weird," Anastasia jeered, it was a little bitchy and rude, she'll admit.

"I'm not used to coming face to face with my past… acquaintances, okay?" Elliot snarled back at her and glowering at her for stepping out of line.

The waitress saved her from having to gave him a lengthy apology when she appeared next to them asking what they were going to order.

"Get whatever you want, guys, it's on Ana," Elliot jibed.

"Oh my god, I'm already going bankrupt," Anastasia mumbled. She knew that she deserved this treatment for that one comment from her. It had become evident that she wasn't herself lately.

People really took Elliot's words for real, and the price in the Mile High wasn't at all average. True to his words though, Anastasia cleared up the bill.

"Sorry," she bumped Elliot's shoulder discreetly.

"Yeah, no worries. I'd hold some serious grudge against you if you didn't pay for my meal."

Anastasia smiled and nodded. She was lucky that Elliot was easy going because she would have to watch her mouth and her attitude in the future. She had a lot going on in her life at the moment and she was constantly stressed, but that didn't mean she should be snapping at other people and insulting them about everything.

She then made her way to Kate, and apologized again for that insensitive comment.

"I get it, don't worry about it. You just take care of yourself and thanks for the meal, too."

They parted ways. Anastasia followed Elliot and Mia back to his apartment and Burt arrived soon after. Kate went back to the hotel to work on her assignment.

Again, that wasn't how she expected her outing with her best friend would turn out but it did.

To say her money for the previous meal had gone to waste was an understatement, because with the amount of vomit that were coming out of the siblings mouth after they updated them on the current situation, Anastasia had reasons to believe that their breakfast was probably also in the mix.

That meeting concluded just before dinner time and they couldn't wait to separate.

…

Just as she thought her life couldn't get worse, her awaited bad news came.

She got the dreaded phone call from Burt. She just got home and Burt was with her only not an hour ago.

"They are suing you."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	28. From Another Perspective

**Just to clarify: the siblings didn't sue Ana, the two married ex-subs did.**

* * *

_**Heads Finally Pulled Out of Asses**_

_"They are suing you."_

It was now Anastasia's turn to stuff her head into the toilet bowl.

She wasn't puking out of disgust but she was sick with nervousness. It was the worst scenario that she could picture. The urge to empty her stomach came all too suddenly because when she was finally done dry heaving since most of the content was already digested, she heard Burt yelling from the phone that was on the ground.

"Wait, Burt, I'm still here. I'm fine," she wiped her mouth clean and rinsed it with tab water before throwing herself on the couch in the living room, averting the concerned gaze from Ethan when he walked past her to the kitchen.

He insisted on cooking for her claiming that he enjoyed it but Anastasia still felt guilty for letting him take care of her when she was the one crashing at his house and invading his private space. Still, even if she wanted to, she was rarely home; she was always at GEH or the hospital.

"That didn't sound like fine to me."

"Forget about that, just… can you tell me if there's any chance… even the slightest chance of getting them to revoke it…?" A lawsuit, well, in this case, probably two, was the last thing she needed on her overflowing plate.

"We've reached out and presented them with evidence that you are not behind their invasion of privacy. We told them that your account was hacked and that you were and are not in possession of those photos. However, it is still up to them to decide."

"How much will it cost? I have no idea about this, I am just under the impression that I am looking at a large figure."

"I can be your lawyer, and I am technically on your payroll, so there is no extra fee to hire an attorney. However, if it goes to trial, then you might be looking at figures up to four-digits or more."

"Oh my god…" she paled, she already felt like she was heavily indebted to José, or would be very soon morally. It really didn't help that she had already decided to cash in all of her savings even though they could probably only pay off a couple square meters of the penthouse. "Do you think it would be in my favor to meet up with them in private in person?"

"It might; but, I would suggest we wait for their response before approaching them in person. Give them some time to think and come up with their own judgment."

"You're right. Don't want to rush them now…" she chuckled nervously. "Okay, thank you, Burt."

"I'll keep you posted."

"Dinner's almost done!" Ethan yelled from the kitchen.

Anastasia had just hang up the phone and she was in no mood for any food, she couldn't stomach them. She felt stuck and even if she could afford a psychotherapist, she didn't think she would want to risk spilling her troubles to them. Despite the laws protecting her privacy and their session content, she still felt uncomfortable talking about it.

…

APRIL 2016

Just a few days after Easter, a holiday that she had neglected to celebrate despite the invites from the Greys or the Kavanaghs. She chose to be on her own.

At first, she was puzzled as to why the Greys would extend an invitation to her, especially given their ill feelings regarding her and the mess she was in. She didn't spend too long pondering over but Elliot did call to tell her that their parents seemed to be getting over the fact that they were manipulated by Elena and tricked by her.

She could only hoped that they came to terms with the woman and the consequences of their actions enough to save their son and his company from destitution and bankruptcy. She really couldn't care less about their attitudes and judgments toward her. Their courteous treatment wouldn't really change her poor opinion of them.

Her parents did something romantic and intimate, as always.

Again, she wasn't part of it. Not because she wasn't invited—she was always welcomed to join them—but because it really didn't feel right with them. Whenever she was with them on a holiday, especially after she graduated high school, her parents seemed to have upped their lovey-dovey game and she was just sick of the affections and the sweetness oozing out of them. It was all in the air and she just felt like a third-wheel and downright intrusive whenever she was there, so she stopped spending any kind of holidays with them.

The Christmas two years ago was the only exception simply because her parents would pity her and insist that she not spend the New Year alone, so she drove over. She thought her life back then was pathetic, and she could tell that it was only getting worse with each passing year.

"Do we have enough?" She asked Burt after she had watched all the video footages with audio extracted from every encounter between Christian and Elena in the past. At least every recorded piece they could find.

"We haven't finish cutting out all the parts, but they are the more recent ones," Sawyer reported. Him, Taylor, Barney and Welch had been working around the clock to find footages that were relevant since she told them about her plan to sue Elena. "It will be done around mid-April at our current speed."

Anastasia thought that would be too late but Burt nodded in approval.

_Welp, he's the lawyer here._

"We are suing her for defamation of character, more specifically multiple accounts of slandering Mr Grey's name," Burt listed, going over the offenses she had committed. "Possession of child and adult pornography," he was shown the album they discovered in Elena's house that contained pictures of a teenage Christian in compromising positions. "Acts of pimping and prostitution, money laundry, tax evasion," this was going to get a lot of powerful man dragged through the dirt but it was a necessary measure. "Domestic sexual abuse."

"Can we sue her for adopting Isaac for… other reasons? Like, to fulfil her predilection."

"If we have tangible proof that she has this intention, then yes."

That was what she was frustrated about.

Evidence!

_Like you need one to prove that Elena is indeed a pedophile._

She also wished she had enough to sue the three girls, but she would digress for now.

"Can we use her and the pimp's phone logs as evidence?" Anastasia asked, she was probably the only one in the room that had no idea how a civil lawsuit worked. She was more familiar with medical malpractice laws since she might be faced with one if she wasn't careful.

"No," Burt shook his head and her eyes narrowed into a slit.

Before she could open her mouth and demand a reason for it, showing off her crankiness, Taylor interjected saving the good lawyer from an earful.

"We can lead the investigators to where we want them to look into. We can tip them off and tell them which direction to look at and what to look for."

"Oh," she sagged a bit in relief knowing that she shouldn't be too worried. She was fully aware that she sounded like an utter idiot at the moment but the stress was really piling on her. "Okay, keep looking then, and get the relevant people involved and just keep me in the loop," she offered them all an uneasy smile that probably appeared more like a grimace.

Deep down, she was really appreciative of the team that surrounded and supported her. If only Christian could have a tougher mentality, he could've still be here and perhaps be more of a use than she had been.

"Just leave that to us."

…

A few days later, she was heading out of the elevator at the top floor of Grey House to sit in on another teleconference with Ros only to walk into her office to find it empty.

"Andrea?" She walked back out to the lobby to the executive assistant that seemed to know everything that goes around. "Where's Ros?"

"They're in Mr Grey's conference room."

"They?" Christian's office was the only one connected to a conference room, so they aptly called it _his_ conference room. They were only a handful on that floor anyway.

"Mr Elliot Grey and Miss Grey are also here."

Anastasia frowned but Andrea had already returned to whatever phone call she had on hold. Normally it would be rude for her to do so, but there really was nothing Andrea could do to help the lost brunette. She was more than familiar with the place.

"Hey?" Anastasia knocked before stepping into the room where the acting CEO, the CFO sat with the two siblings at one end of the table. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?"

"Oh, no, please join us," Ros shook her head. "They cancelled on us," she said cryptically to Anastasia once she settled into one of the chairs around the large desk. She was referring to the teleconference.

"Does that mean…?" She wanted to ask if it was another investor pulling out but Ros only shook her head, though the look on her face indicating nothing positive. "Fine, fill me in?"

"Elliot and Mia both expressed interest in buying their share."

"Do they have to buy it? I mean they should just get it according to the will," Anastasia asked, she didn't think they were in as deep as they actually were with debt but one glance at the CFO and she got her answer.

"He's not dead, Ana." Ros shot her a pointed look telling her to shut up because they needed money at the moment.

"We have explained the reason why they have to purchase the shares instead of being signed over," the CFO reiterated the point and continued. "Currently, we are discussing when these payments will be made and the amount."

Anastasia nodded for them to carry on. She just needed to sit in on those meetings without having to speak a single word.

"As it shows from their bank record," the CFO produced the documents provided by the siblings and Anastasia briefly wondered where Mia got her money because she was still technically in college. "Elliot has the ability to purchase the entirety of his share if he's willing. However, the amount in Mia's trust fund is only able to purchase a portion."

Mia fidgeted nervously. Even though the meeting wasn't done in a formal setting and the tone was informal, she still felt uncomfortable in a business setting. She had never been in a situation like this. If this was how it felt like hanging out with adults from the society, then Mia would rather staying in college for several years longer. Elliot was currently the only one offering acceptable supports toward her, even Anastasia's presence felt distant and foreign. She didn't like the feeling of having no one to lean on.

"Mia and Elliot are both supposed to own 2% of the company, however, Mia is only able to purchase 1%."

"But, we've come to a conclusion that Elliot buys the other 1% for Mia, so he owns 3%."

Anastasia nodded at Ros thanking her for the added information and accepting it.

They discussed payment plans, when would everything be due, and hashed out all the details regarding their shares in the next hour before the meeting was over. Anastasia and Ros remained behind after they saw the siblings to the elevator and the CFO back to her own office.

"Why is Elena still on the loose?" Ros demanded. "She is still spreading lies around."

"I am gathering evidence against her at the moment," Anastasia couldn't tell her that she had just been told not two days ago that Taylor, Sawyer, Barney and Welch all called in favors and the FBI actually had their eyes on her now covertly. Though, for them to act with a legitimate reason, they would still need to go through the required procedure, which in other words, they would still have to wait.

"When are you going to sue her?"

"Probably next month if I have gathered enough," _legitimate ones,_ she added in her head after replying to Ros. "I wish I can do it sooner but there really is nothing I can do to speed up the process. Everyone is already doing their best," she explained.

Ros heaved a heavy sigh.

"I'm really sorry that you are under immense pressure because of this."

"Don't apologize, I can only imagine how much stress you're under, Ana." Ros looked away after perching herself up on the edge of the conference table and stared out the window. The building was significantly lower than Escala but it still overlooked most of the buildings around it.

"How bad is it?" Anastasia didn't want to hear the answer but she had to. She had been mollifying herself by putting all her confident in Christian and praying that he'd come back to take over, or at least support her. She only had to survive and fight until June.

Ros shook her head before answering.

"I plan on buying shares starting in May. I've been talking to Gwen about it."

This was like another bucket of cold water dumped over her like those ice-bucket challenges. She only hoped she could name the next dummy to be dumped on.

"That means…" she let her voice trail off when she saw Ros nodding her head compassionately but with the same sadness that she was feeling. "Oh god, another few hundred millions on top of my ten to fifteen millions. _Not a lot, nope_."

"Good news," Ros murmured almost ironically. "It's only ten."

"Oh great, we've got five mil knocked off," Anastasia threw her head back and let out a long agonizing groan. "It's making my job so much easier."

"Are you sure you won't be in debt?"

"No," she told her determinedly.

"And, you're not going to tell me how you can get those money?"

"No."

"Ana, your number is a ridiculous amount, and I know that you don't have that much."

"I don't. I am dirt poor, but guess what?"

"Dear god, we're always going to be sarcastic."

"Yes, but I've sold my apartment in Baltimore, and I've now got three millions in total. Everything included."

"You can't possibly be thinking about using your entire three mil, right?"

"No, I know. I won't. I'm not that stupid but I can be impulsive, and that" she glared at Ros pointedly, "I'll give you. I'll probably save a few thousands for myself. I sold my car there, too."

"When do you think you can have the money? The banks are still sending us reminders every once a week. What, are we not going to remember that we're going to get kicked out soon?"

"What about this building?" Anastasia suddenly remembered.

"What about it?"

"Is this going to be mortgaged?"

"No, he paid in full."

"He also paid his penthouse in full," she argued recollecting a conversation she had with Ros.

"This building and this land is worth a lot more. He made it a priority to pay this and the penthouse first."

"No wonder," she muttered. "How about the shipyard?"

"It is still in our favor to have it under our umbrella but as to the amount of profit it can generate, and the monetary value it's going to bring us? That is decreasing because our other subsidiaries are shutting down."

"Is that going to keep GEH afloat?"

"Afloat? Are you kidding me woman?" Ros exclaimed. "We are already in debt right now, we are only _this_," she pinched her index finger and thumb together, "far away from bankrupting!"

Anastasia knew she was exaggerating but that was to get the point across, and she received it loud and clear.

…

She had been in contact with José in the last few weeks, but that was mostly because he needed to keep her informed about the sale of her very valuable apartment and her comparatively less worthy car. She had half the mind to question if José added a few thousand to the total amount.

The subject of money may have came up once or twice, and Anastasia didn't shy away from expressing her urgent need for cash. However, she would always sound really uncertain and a part of her always wondered if she should just talk to José Sr. because he was obviously the man calling the shots in the house.

It was an understatement given the over-dramatic reaction from José after she saved his father. It was evident to anyone that José was mostly, if not completely, dependent on his father and if his rock died, then it would feel like the entire sky fell.

She was brought out of her musing by her phone. This was a frequent occurrence but it still startled her.

"Hello?"

"Anastasia Steele?"

"Yes?"

"This is Lamborghini…"

For a second, she thought they had phoned the wrong number and asked for the wrong person because she had never ordered a car. She didn't remember paying for one and there was no recollection of her ever deciding on buying that dream car of hers.

"I'm sorry, but when did this happen?"

"Last April. You left a message requesting a call back a year later."

Anastasia went mute. She felt like people always called her at the most unexpected moments and visited at the worst time possible. Memories flooded back to her brain in rapid motion, and there was a vision showing her in her apartment in Baltimore with Kate as they drank straight from the whine bottle. That was when she told her about her about the account, the first person that she revealed to because she couldn't contain her excitement.

She told Kate that she was saving up for a sports car and that she had finally reached her goal. So, when Kate urged her to start shopping, in her ethanol daze, she did. Under Kate's encouragement and the liquid playing with her brain, she ordered it online.

Then, just to be safe, she thought she should just put in an order and come back to it when she was more sober.

And, she forgot all about it.

"Ma'am, are you still there?"

"Uh… um… yes," she stuttered, snapped out of her flashback.

"Have you made your final decision on the purchase?"

"I'm sorry…" she wanted to bang her head on the concrete for actually listening to Kate that Easter. "Circumstances has changed, I have to cancel that order. I apologize for the inconvenience I've caused."

"Can you confirm that you want to cancel the order?" The woman from the phone asked, showing no emotion and sympathy to Anastasia's apology and explanation. She just needed the keywords. Was that what efficiency was supposed to be like?

"Yes, I do."

"Okay, thank you for confirming, ma'am. Your order is now canceled. There will be a text message sent to your number shortly to confirm your cancellation. Is there any else I can help you with?"

"No," was all she could mumble out as she felt her phone vibrate against her ear with an incoming text. It could only be that confirmation receipt.

"Thank you for your time. I hope you have a pleasant day, ma'am."

"You too," she murmured dejectedly at the phone after she hung up, studiously ignoring the automatic message asking you to rate the service.

She lifted her hand with the phone in hand with the intention of tossing it across the room, aiming at the wall opposite of her but stopped herself mid-throw.

_She couldn't afford another phone at the moment._

"Fuck!" She twisted her body and buried her face in the cushion and screamed. "Christian, I need you so bad right now! Please come back to me!" She pleaded and cried. She felt like she was the one going insane and not actually Christian.

Her phone rang again.

She swore people collude together and came to an agreement to call her at the same time. One by one.

Or, none of them call at all.

"Hello?" Again, not checking the caller ID, even though this time was from someone she had the number saved.

"Ana," it was Burt, "I just met with one of them."

"Who?"

"One of the two that sued you."

"Okay?" She was dreading this conversation because knowing her luck, nothing would happen in the way she wanted it to.

"After some explaining, they've finally understood that you aren't in possession of those photos, and Elena was."

"So, you proved to her that Elena's the one who hacked into my account and posted it?"

"No, we still can't prove the connection; but, she has agreed to sue Elena for possession and release of private pornography."

"Does she has any evidence? Fuck, why am I even asking this?"

"She has," Burt had to stifle a laugh.

"Okay, thank you for telling me this. What about the other person?"

"We still haven't hear back from her."

"Okay, at least one's taken care of. It's good that more than one person is taking legal actions against this bitch."

_Bitch is putting it lightly._

"It will work in our advantage."

"So, she is going to withdraw her indictment?"

"Yes, and she claims she will be suing Elena but we don't know for sure."

"Let's hope she does. I don't care what evidence she uses or what charges she's pressing on her."

…

MAY 2016

With one lawsuit revoked by the plaintiff, Anastasia thought she could have an easier month.

She did.

But it was only an easier _rest of the month._

The plaintiff withdrew their appeal in the last week of April, when Elliot and Mia's first payment was due and when Taylor and his team were supposed to have gathered all of the evidence to sue Elena.

She was hoping for a more positive start to the month since the last month didn't end so badly.

The appeal was submitted to court. They've sued Elena and she would be receiving a subpoena from them within the month.

Anastasia was suing her on behalf of Christian Grey given that she was his legal guardian on paper. She still had no idea how his legal people tweaked this and if this was even legal, but she was going to play along because it was in her favor and she was confident that there was no mole in her small huddle of employees working closely with her.

She would rather jump off of Grey House if she found out that someone was acting as the deception point. She had had Taylor and Sawyer vet _everyone_ before bringing them into the case.

The media had backed off considerably, leaving her with a decent amount of space to breath. She was feeling suffocated since the start of the year, and it only got worse when her account got hacked. At one point, she truly believed that the press was going to tighten their grasp around her neck and actually asphyxiate her through their relentless hounding and invasion of privacy.

She was really thankful for GEH's PR team to shun them for her but it didn't decrease the amount of attention she was receiving wherever she were. Indoor or out.

At last, the storm sort of died down. For once, she felt like she could finally come up for air.

…

"Count! Isaac!" Elena barked at the top of her lungs as the cane bit down on his back.

"Ten," a weak voice cried out. He was already exhausted and on the verge of passing out.

"Do you know why you're punished now?"

"Yes, Mistress," he trembled but that quivering of his lips wasn't taken into account by her.

"I didn't give you permission to speak! Now, why did you have to act so wound up in front of all the guests?" She was met with silence other than the quiet panting from the boy and the sound of a wielding cane in the air. "I told you to never act like you're injured and cover up those marks! Did you listen to me?" Silence. "Do you ever follow my instructions and my rules?"

Another hit landed on the back of his thighs. That was at least more tolerable than the back.

"I have people coming to me asking why are your back black and blue? Why didn't you cover them up?"

"I tried, Mistress."

"Try harder!" She roared, bringing down the cane across his vertebrae. "People are becoming suspicious."

Her scenes were increasingly more violence since storming out of the penthouse after Anastasia outed her to the family. She knew that Grace and Carrick wouldn't hear another word from her or believe another thing she said, so she had to lay-low. She knew it would take the parents a long time to get over the fact that she was the devil and not Anastasia.

Her nerves were constantly on edge lately knowing that the Greys were going to snap at any given time.

Elena would've succeeded at everything if the parents didn't know about her involvement with their youngest son. She knew deep down that Grace and Carrick would've believed and supported Christian if he came clean to them about her, and she was gambling on the fact that he wouldn't. She just didn't think mousy little Anastasia would reveal it all and the other two Grey siblings would be so supportive and in agreement with the fact that Elena was the bitch here.

…

"Christian, have you thought about your future?"

"No, let's just get through life one step at a time and don't get my hopes up."

"You need a goal, Christian. You had one before all this and it was your drive. You worked really hard for it, so why don't you want to have one? It doesn't have to be grand or anything like your last one, but what is your plan?"

"I don't have one?"

"Then what about this one?" Flynn pointed to Taco who curled up at Christian's feet dutifully.

"He will be going back to Ana."

"Is that your plan?" Christian was puzzled. "Is that what you are going to do or is it what you think will happen?"

"She will come back for him eventually."

"What gives you that idea?" They were making slow progress in regards to his negative mentality, and he assumed the worst less and less, but there were still times when it happened.

"Taco is her dog."

"From what you've told me, I am under the impression that he is both of yours. You gave her this dog initially with the wish of keeping her closer to you."

"Leaving a reminder of me with her," he corrected just like Flynn expected.

"Yes, so what changed?"

Cricket.

"Let me ask you this again, do you want to keep Taco?"

"Yes."

"Do you think Ana won't let you keep him?"

"No."

"So are you going to keep him?"

"Ana will want him back."

"Forget about Ana for a moment and focus on you. Are you keeping him?"

"Yes."

"Good, then keep it. Don't think too much."

"What about Ana?"

"Did she say that she wants him back?"

"No."

"Then why did you insist on giving him back?"

"Because…"

"Don't make the decision for her, make the choice for yourself. You are going to go back to the office next month, you will need to know that you can trust that everyone that genuinely cares about you will have your best interest at heart. You don't need to make a move first to push them away just to protect yourself. They believe you, so you will have to reciprocate that sentiment."

"Fine, then my goal is probably to save my company."

"That is a start. Can you elaborate on that? Be a little bit more specific?"

"I don't know shit about what condition my company is in right now, how can I do that? Should I assume the worst?"

"No, because like Ana has told you, there are people fighting in your corner."

"Oh, so there should still be some of it left?" He snorted.

…

"How's New York doing?"

Anastasia stepped into Ros's office after being summoned claiming that she had _several_ good news.

"Can you believe that it's already mid-May? I can't believe how fast time goes."

She rolled her eyes at that greeting, it wasn't any better than hers but at least she was talking business and she was making comments about the most random subject.

"Yes, I can believe it, and I wish it can move even faster," Anastasia deadpanned, throwing herself on to her couch next to her desk and stared at her waiting for her report. "What's got you so chirpy this morning? Did you take the wrong medicine?"

"I forgot to take my medicine, you reminded me. Thank you!" She leapt up from her chair and rounded the table to her cabinets locating her pills for whatever she had.

"Seriously, Ros."

"We might have hope."

"For what?" Anastasia snorted unladylike.

"To save this company."

"Why?" She frowned.

"We got the shipyard!" Ros squealed, which was very unlike her.

"The one in Baltimore?"

"Yes!" She screamed and Anastasia jumped up.

"Really? Didn't you say it wouldn't make too much of a difference?"

Completely ignoring her, Ros continued in her happy daze.

"And, guess what? The East Coast office is doing so much better than the West Coast." Anastasia swore she could see Ros dancing around in the office when she got the news when she wasn't there.

"Why's that?" And she already had an idea.

"Rodriguez!"

Expected, but Anastasia was still troubled. She understood that it was a huge relief for Ros to have the shipyard.

"What else?"

"Um… let's see. I've told you about the shipyard, which is our silver lining. Then, there's José Rodriguez on the East Coast keeping that office afloat. I just flew back from Baltimore, so I know. Oh, and guess who scheduled a meeting with us?"

"Who?" Anastasia was so lost. Her future was still so bleak and so dark with no light, yet Ros was the complete opposite.

"Christian's parents!"

Anastasia stood stock still. Her mind wasn't processing.

"Ana! Why aren't you happy? This is fantastic news! I feel so much lighter that I can fly at the moment. After finally persuading Gwen to allow me buy shares from GEH, I thought I'd end up being the only one taking actions about this failing business. Guess what, his family is stepping in!"

"You bought GEH shares?"

"Is that all you got out?" Ros groaned.

"No, I heard what you said but you told me the deal was a success."

"Yes! It is, but we still have to have a plan b, so it's better than to keep the shares within us before it goes into the hands of those investors."

"When is the meeting?" Anastasia had to remember that Ros had no idea about the dispute between her and the Greys, so she had to remain neutral.

It was good news, however. She couldn't deny that. It could only mean one thing, and that was Grace and Carrick had finally realized what was more important at this point and made the right choice to support their son.

"Tomorrow. We have to get the ball rolling as soon as we can. You're sitting in."

"I know I am."

"Do you know how many are they buying?"

"15%, that's the portion that belong to them." Then an idea suddenly hit her, and she decided that she was going to step in before this company got dissected by other companies that its indebted to. "You can buy up to 30% if you can afford it."

"GEH's worth is declining each day, Ana. That's the sad truth."

"I'm buying the rest," she announced. "I'll still be the majority share holder."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	29. Endgame

_**Endgame**_

"Mrs Lincoln?"

Elena wrapped the robe tighter around her naked body. She had just stepped out of the shower and was half finished with her makeup, it was the worst moment anyone could knock on the door. She hated it when people meet her when she was unpresentable.

"Isaac, go get the door," she ordered as the young teenager limped to the front door.

He stole a glance at the backside of the woman in the robe on his way to the door. The initial sexual desire and lust that he had for a body with full tits, ass and a vagina was gone, instead it was fear and utter hatred that filled his body. He had no idea how he could fall under the spell of this witch when they first met.

Granted, she was very nice to him in the beginning before the adoption process went through. He could still remember how he would always anticipate her visit when he stayed with the Colliers.

"Hello?" Isaac approached the door and peaked through the cat eye. He wasn't going to open the door just in case whoever was outside touched him. He couldn't be touched even with the softest material, his skin was too delicate to even sustain the gentlest contact.

"Is Mrs Lincoln here?"

"Yes," he answered when Elena was frantically shaking her head behind him but he chose to ignore her. He knew that would warrant him a punishment but he believed that he could be getting out of this shit hole very soon.

"Can you please open the door?"

Ignoring Elena's plea, angry glares and threats of harsh punishments, he unbolted the door and opened a crack. He was going to toy with Elena first.

"Yes, sir?" He silently laughed at the ironic address. "What can I do for you?"

"Is Mrs Lincoln in?"

"Yes, sir," he answered politely.

"May I come in. I need to speak with her in person."

"Of course," Isaac said after sending Elena a wink behind the door and opened it wider, revealing Elena in her see-through silk robe wrapped around her naked body. He had to give it to her that she had learned a lot from her late husband. She knew how to keep her appearance young. She looked merely like a woman in her thirties instead of someone double the age. "Please, come in. Would you like any refreshments?" He asked, demonstrating the manner that Elena installed in him and forced him to behave when they were in company.

"No, that's fine. Thank you."

When the eyes of the delivery man's finally located Elena, he grimaced mentally at the woman who straightened her back and held her chin slightly higher as if to show him who was in power.

_You wouldn't be like that once you received my package._

The man thought humorously. Darting his eyes between the little boy and the woman, he decided to not ask any question since he could smell drama in this house. With the envelope in hand, he took a step closer and contemplated on asking the woman to put on a layer of more decent clothing but he felt that was unnecessary since he wouldn't be staying long anyway.

"Mrs Lincoln, you have been served."

…

A few days later, the same man appeared at her house two more times, delivering two more subpoena.

"I need to get creative," Elena told herself.

It was the same mantra that Isaac repeated to himself, too.

…

"Shut that thing off!" Ethan screamed, diving under his pillow.

Rolling her eyes, Anastasia rolled out of bed swinging open the door almost throwing off its hinges.

"You could've came out to get it," she grumbled petulantly slapping her hands over the kitchen counter in the dark following the noise blasting through the entire apartment.

When she finally located the offending device that was still vibrating, she slammed her hand over it pressing at the screen randomly and clicking every button it had trying to shut it up before the ringing tone sounded again.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" She yelled when she screen lit up, illuminating almost the entire kitchen and blinding her. She squinted through the light and finally saw the time.

2:00 a.m.

She was going to turn the thing off and head back to sleep when her eyes caught the name on the screen.

She had five missed calls from Adam Hall.

"He better be dying," she muttered as she raised the phone to her ear and dragged her feet back to her room and kicking the door shut. She threw her self on to the bed and swore to herself that she was going to hang up and forget about him if he didn't pick up after another ring.

He did.

"Ana, finally! What have you been doing?"

"Do you know what time is it here?"

"Two in the morning, I know."

"You know? You know and you have the cheek to call me multiple times?" She screeched.

"Yes because your teammates are looking for you and they can't find you."

"They can email me."

"They did. A week ago and you never replied."

"What's wrong, then?"

"Nothing's wrong. It's good news!"

She had half a mind to ban everyone from ever saying the phrase 'good news' to her. She was starting absolutely loath this word because whenever there was good news, there would be bad ones following. She just knew that!

"What?" She snapped.

"You guys got published!"

"We submitted that long ago."

"No! Published, as in you have a shot at getting approved for patents."

That got Anastasia to sit up on the bed.

"Say that again?"

"You've got a chance to be patented."

She scrambled off of the bed and leapt for her computer, she had no idea how where her sudden coordination and flexibility had came from but her surprisingly muscle-less body didn't give up during her ninja jump from the bed to the far end of the room and back.

"I'm reading the email," she updated.

Quickly, she scanned through the content of the email. The more she read the more exited she was.

"I can literally hear you bouncing on that bed. Poor mattress."

"You sure this is from the official organization not some spam mail?"

"No, the rest of your teammate got it."

"Yeah, it could be trying to get us all. People send out spam to everyone at once."

"Ana, stop being so cynical."

"I'm not; this is just too good to be true."

"Trust me, it's true."

"Tell them I said congratulations. Do I need to fly back?"

"No, but did you see the email about some kind of recognition and another award ceremony in Baltimore?"

"No, wait, let me find it. I get too many emails everyday."

"Yeah, I figured. Anyways, U Dub is hosting it and they chose the site in Maryland for some reason."

"Why?"

"Your guess is as good as mind."

Though, Anastasia had an inkling of why they would be choosing the Baltimore instead of Seattle. She knew what a mess Seattle was right now because of the whole uproar with GEH's CEO and everyone that was associated with him and to the company. Even the city was affected.

"Wait, I have to go to Baltimore?"

"Yes, I guess I'll see you there."

"You're going too?"

"All the scientists that stayed in Copenhagen."

"Oh, wow…" she continued to read through the letter. "It's in June."

"You got that right. See you there."

…

_Kids were running around in the yard as wave after wave of pie scented smell rush out of the oven and into the nostrils of the younglings. The Colliers' garden wasn't particularly big but it had everything a child could ask for. From swings to monkey bars to a small climbing wall. There was everything._

_There were only a few children, and the youngest was at the age of ten and the oldest was not sixteen. The age gap between those children made this group the easiest to foster because they were mature enough to solve their own problems and but also innocent enough to forgive easily._

_"Isaac!" Mrs Collier called from the porch, a mixing bowl still in her hands and apron around her waist._

_The kids were always in for a treat over the weekend because that was the only time when Mr Collier would be at home, so he could supervise the kids while his wife work her magic in the kitchen._

_A teenage boy that had been in their house for over two years ran over. He appeared about fourteen or fifteen but his frame was more scrawny than the other boy who was around the same age as his. Though, he was never left in hunger after he arrived the house._

_"Yes, Mrs Collier?" He panted, shaking his head to shook the sweat out of his hair. "Is this part of today's dinner or snack?" He grinned, standing on his tippy toes trying to peak into the bowl that Mrs Collier was holding onto._

_Mrs Collier patted his cheek affectionately and smiled at him shaking her head. "Someone's at the door for you. He's in the living room waiting right now."_

_At the mention of a guest, Isaac skipped into to the house. He knew who was here, and it wasn't the woman that was going to adopt him that he not a single motherly cell in her body._

_"Jack!" He ran to the man still trying to act like a cool guy who could school in his expression and act all calm and collected, but he just couldn't suppress his excitement._

_"Hey kiddo."_

_Jack Hyde was a guy in his mid-twenties. He was once a foster kid who grew up with the Colliers. What Isaac didn't know was that he had never visited once since he left this place when he turned eighteen. It didn't slip past the Colliers that he was suddenly a constant visitor in their household._

_He claimed to have settled down already by himself in Seattle, and now finally had some spare time in his hands so he came back to visit them. Mrs Collier, always the warmhearted sweet lady, of course welcomed him back with open arms each time he visited, but Mr Collier had be a little bit more reserved._

_Jack said he was now a computer guy that constantly travels between Detroit and Seattle, and whenever he's in Detroit, he would stop by this house to see Isaac. It only become more and more frequent after he turned fifteen. No one questioned why he singled out this little boy the moment he walked in like he knew him outside of this household._

_"What have you got today?" Isaac took a seat next to him waiting for him to pull out of his computer._

_The last time he was here, he showed him a simple virus that he had developed which could attack the security system to hack into some of the most prestigious companies in the Unite States._

_"I'm going to show you how this thing works," Jack smirked deviously as he fired up the laptop and propping it up in his lap._

_"Who's the loser?"_

_"A shipping company in Baltimore, Maryland."_

_"Why them?"_

_"They don't do domestic businesses. They're an international port."_

_Isaac watched Jack worked the computer with efficiency in awe. He admired Jack and thought he was the guy that he wanted to become in the future. He wanted to be someone like him who could just sit behind a computer screen and get money. What he didn't know was that Jack wasn't earning money. He was laundering them._

_"Kid, do you like money?"_

_"Hell yeah, who doesn't?"_

_"Good, because I'll tell you what."_

_"There is going to be a blonde woman who appears to be in her thirties named Elena visiting in a couple of days. She's going to adopt you."_

_"Is she nice?"_

_"Oh, yes, she is. The best," Jack answered cryptically and mysteriously but Isaac didn't catch the meaning behind the tone. He took the words at face value._

_"Cool."_

_"You're going to go with her."_

_"Okay?"_

_"And, I'm going to get you money."_

_"How?"_

_"I'll show you."_

_He gestured to the computer screen._

_"Just watch me," he smirked as he demonstrated the process of putting money through the account of a salon chain and depositing into his account, noting the transaction under 'monthly bonus'._

_"That's it?"_

_"That's it. I'm a few thousand dollars richer now."_

_"Wow, and you can do that for me?"_

_"You'll need an account."_

_"How do I get one?"_

_"Elena will set up one for you."_

_"Can you teach me how to do this?"_

_"Sure," he agreed readily. It wasn't his money in the first place and he was simply taking other people's bribery money so there really was no harm._

_Besides, every bribery from those rich men that Elena pimped for would have to go through the salon before entering her account. He would always write the deduction off as a payment and Elena had never refused it._

_"But, I'll show you next time."_

_"Next time? Why can't you do it this time?" Isaac whined._

_"Don't whine. We're cool, we don't do that. If you want to be one of us…"_

Isaac still didn't understand what he meant by 'one of us' but he didn't care. That nice man promised him money and had taught him how to get it. He had been taking money here and there whenever he got on ahold of Elena's computer.

He was silently giddy that Elena got served even though he had no idea who sued her but he was just happy that she was in trouble. God knows that woman had done a lot of illegal shit in her life.

"Isaac!"

_Fuck!_

He quickly dropped and hid the cream that Jack gave him during one of their little rendezvous. After he was adopted, Jack gave him an address and told him that if he needed to see him, he should go there on the weekdays during working hours.

It was the address to the salon that Elena owned.

Elena usually wasn't there but Jack would always be, because he was the senior financial advisor for her. Though, what his real job was actually sift through money to make sure that those large deposits entered the bank in smaller quantities and make it appear like income made by the salon and not from pimping.

"Mistress," Isaac sprinted to the office as fast as his severely wounded legs could bring him. It hurt when he ran or walk to fast because the movement would cause his over-sensitive skin to make contact with his cloth and the friction would hurt him.

"Bow your head," Elena snapped without looking up from her computer. It was the very same one that Isaac would sneak in and use every once in a while. He had found a file on this computer with all the photo evidence gathered of her sexual conquests. It was under the name 'Insurance' but he made a duplicate of that folder and hid it online under the name 'Isaac Hyde'.

He had no idea if Jack would find out but he didn't really care, he just wanted someone to find out because he really just wanted to get out of this place and out of this woman's hold. Anything to get him to his goal. He wouldn't care about the cost or the damage he would cause.

It was irrelevant to him.

Though, there was one perk being adopted by a socialite. He got a bank account just like all the other spoiled kids from those rich mommies and daddies. Even if he wasn't of legal age, he could still make deposits just like Hyde told him.

"Have you been snooping around in my office?" She demanded, snapping Isaac out of his musing.

"No, Mistress," he answered meekly. He had had a few close calls but so far, Elena had been too dumb and occupied by the shit storm she stirred up to examine the very obvious traces that he had left behind.

"Did you finish your homework?"

"Yes, Mistress," _it's Sunday already you cunt._ He mentally cursed the woman behind the computer. If he didn't finish his homework on Friday night when he arrived from school, he would get a spanking and a rough fuck with no permission to cum. So, he had always did it even if Elena didn't always check it.

"Can I see them?"

Isaac sprinted to his room and grabbed the neat pile of sheet and hurried back.

"Mistress," he lowered his gaze obediently like a good submissive. "May I be dismissed, Mistress?"

"Where are you going?" She finally looked away from her computer, the one that she couldn't seem to completely understand how to operate. She saw that he was in an outfit clearly suggesting that he was heading out.

"To the salon, Ma'am," he saw a flash of alertness through her body, he could literally feel it if he didn't see it in his peripheral. _God, this woman sucked at hiding her true feelings._ He lamented to himself, he had no idea why the other woman that she socialized with would befriend her or even respect her in any way.

"No," she rejected harshly. She was going to the salon herself later to see Jack and she didn't need him following around.

It was no secret that the three of them all knew one another separately but Isaac wanted to keep his dealings with Jack a secret; ironically, Elena wanted to keep her real relationship with the guy from her 'son', too.

"Ma'am?"

Elena's refusal was one of a rare kind. She usually would let him out of the house to the salon so she could have some time alone in the house, but with what she had in mind for when she meet with Jack, she couldn't risk him seeing it.

"No, you may not."

When Isaac opened his mouth again trying to speak, Elena shot him an icy glare daring him to utter another word of protest.

"You do not want to disobey me," she warned him sternly and returned to her task at hand, whatever it was.

Isaac bowed his head and left the office, shutting the door behind him. There was nothing he could do because he wasn't let out of the house and the only two places he could hangout at was his school and the salon.

The subpoena was served on a Friday morning and the hearing was on the Fourth of July. At least one of them, that was the only one he saw. He didn't get a chance to steal any glances at the rest of the two she had received this week but he did saw that the first one was from an Anastasia Steele on behalf of Christian Grey.

He had an idea of who those two names refer to but that wasn't his concern, he really couldn't care less who was in feud with his Mistress because if everyone wasn't so blind, he was certain that she'd probably be buried in subpoenas and paying fines, probation fees and legal charges for the rest of her life. He had no idea if she would show up at the court hearing but that wasn't his concern either, he just needed to get his money and get out.

And, he couldn't wait till his eighteenth birthday, he was going to use this chaos that his Mistress seemed to be in to get out. Jack promised to help him.

In the meantime, he was going to wait until Elena left for the salon so he could use her computer to check how much money he currently had. He hadn't been able to steal much lately because Elena wasn't getting the amount she used to, and Jack was always the one taking the larger portion.

…

"You ready, buddy?" Christian whistled for the dog that had been staying with him for the past two months. It was a blissful two months. Taco had helped a lot because even he felt the improvements himself. He felt better and more comfortable in his own skin, he was more confident, and less arrogant like he used to be.

Overall, he just felt more real.

The St. Bernard came bounding to the foyer where he was standing with his leash in hand waiting for him. Unlike Anastasia, he didn't have the habit of taking off his collar when they arrived home.

Also, unlike Anastasia, he was someone who would be excited and wide awake whenever he heard the sound of his leash jingling in the air. Even when he was snoring the last second, he would leapt up from his spot and head straight for the door no matter the time.

Christian tried, he really did tried to move on from Anastasia and not think about her at every turn of the event; but he couldn't.

He didn't know if it was because of Taco's existence in his home or because he still hadn't removed any of her stuff, but either way, even if Flynn didn't steer the conversation toward her, he would do so himself unconsciously.

They would always end up talking about her.

It did not help his anxiety because being isolated from the outside world, he had no idea what she was actually up to.

In the past couple of months, his range of activity was restricted only to the Escala building, and he could only use the treadmill which he absolutely loath. However, he was given the permission to head outside for his morning run if he wore disguise just a few days ago. Whether that was because of his unprecedented progress in therapy or because the public was actually starting to forget about him, he didn't know.

Nor did he cared.

"I hope this doesn't end up in a disaster," he said in Taco's fluffy ear when he knelt next to the giant dog to attach the leash.

The dog only panted louder in excitement, and that was the only response from him.

"Okay, chill, bud," Christian laughed when Taco pulled on the leash and shot straight into the elevator like he had been the one stuck in the penthouse for almost half a year instead of the man.

Taylor thought it was refreshing to see him taking initiative in his own life, starting with the run in the morning. He nearly had a panic attack when he knocked on Grey's bedroom door only to find him already dressed and whistling for the dog in the foyer with his hat and glasses in place.

Just yesterday, he had to remind him that Taco also wanted to go out.

"What are you smiling at?" Christian scowled at Taylor in a poker face but his upbeat mood was hard to conceal behind anything.

…

That same day, Anastasia received a phone call from Kate.

"Kate!" The brunette exclaimed, shocked to find her best friend calling her in the middle of the day.

"Ana, when are you going to give me the go ahead? It's already the end of May and we still haven't published anything? That scandal is not the talk of the town now, it's dying down and if you don't do it sooner, I swear, you're only going stir up a whole new storm."

"Kate, why are you whispering?"

"I'm at work dummy. It may be just around eight or nine in the morning for you but it's nearly my lunch time for me," Kate yelled in a whisper. "I need to keep it low because I'm taking my lunch break early just to talk to you and I'm on the street right now, do you have any idea how many people are in Manhattan? If you need to get this published I need to meet the deadline which is this afternoon."

"Which one are we going to publish?"

"You let me worry about the specific strategy, but I need you to tell me if you're going to do it because if you are, this thing is going out in tomorrow's paper in the morning. I am only going to publish one for now, but are we doing this?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure? I need to double check."

"It's the our only chance to do her some damage, so yes."

"That's your verbal confirmation."

"Can I read the article first?"

"Before I publish? Steele, do you know what it's like to work on this side project especially when I have to rush the edit to meet the deadline without getting ratted out that I'm Kaetlyn? If you want to suggest edits, then the answer is no, you'll have to trust me."

"Kate, slow down."

Kate was already panting as she sped down the streets of Manhattan, her lunch forgotten as she made her way back to the office. The articles she had saved were only rough drafts that weren't even on her computer.

"There's no time! That's not the only deadline I'm rushing."

_And, there I thought you don't procrastinate._ Anastasia mused to herself.

"Okay, then just send the final copy to me, is that okay?"

"Yes," she almost snapped but at least there was no rustling sound coming from the background, meaning that she just entered the building. "I'll get it to you as soon as possible, I've got too much shit to do right now."

"You need to eat!" Anastasia shouted down the phone but the line was already dead. She was aware that she now sounded really like Christian with the issue with food. She just wanted her best friend to take care of herself but she could only guess that was probably how Christian felt like when she missed her meal because of an experiment.

…

"You said you're coming in last Sunday," Jack frowned when Elena strutted into the office with pride in all her glory.

"What are you doing in my office?"

"You told me you wanted to see me," he smirked arrogantly. One that he knew would rile her up. She would try to do anything to smack that grin off of his face, but he was once told that Christian was always like this.

"Hold everything," she barked at the staff outside of the office rudely and slammed the door shut, locking it. She stepped around the desk and took a seat behind it in the plush office chair that Jack had been sitting on just minutes before she entered. "Now," she leaned forward and lowered her voice considerably. Crooking an index finger, she motioned him to mirror her posture. "I need you to get me a gun."

"What the fuck?"

"No, you listen," she hissed. "I thought I've made it clear that under no circumstances do you touch those files that are hidden and encrypted. They aren't supposed to be discovered once they're there because there's nothing that can possibly lead anyone to it. You guaranteed that it was secure." Elena pointed a shaky finger at Jack who was only momentarily confused but paled instantly.

"What happened to them?"

"What happened to them?" She shrieked, glaring at him for having the audacity to even ask this question. "I've just got served! Which only means one thing, _someone_ found those folders that I told you to never touch and to protect it with extra security."

"How do you know that?"

"Because I've been sued for prostitution, with two other people suing me for invasion of privacy, defamation of character because I somehow hacked into some social media account and posted nude pictures of them! Is that not clear enough to you?"

Jack blanched.

He had taken a step too far.

He never pledged his loyalty to Elena, nor did he have the intention of ever helping Isaac to save up pennies.

He simply wanted to avenge Christian for taking away the opportunity that should've been his.

He wanted to have the Grey name, he wanted to fuck Elena, and he wanted to have that innocent looking doctor who could bake. Yet, he had nothing—not even a decent, legitimate job.

It was his mater plan to mess with Grey but Elena was always a step ahead of him and beat him to further mess up his ordinary life. So, he thought he could do some damage to Anastasia, hence hacking her account.

That also backfired.

"What are you going to do with a gun?"

"I'm going to speed things up a little."

Once he saw that sick, evil smirk on her face, there was one thing in his mind that was clear.

He needed to get out of this country and get away from this maniac. If he didn't move right now, he would be forever associated with this stupid old cunt who couldn't even execute a perfect plan perfectly.

Jack disappeared the moment the gun was in Elena's possession.

…

Taco charged at Christian who had his food bowl in his hand.

"Taco!" Christian snapped. It didn't stop the dog from jumping up and down next to him as he moved from the kitchen to the living room where he ate his food each day. His tail never stopped waggling and his tongue almost never stopped dripping saliva.

It was as if Christian's chastisement was not for him.

"Sit!" He commanded before putting the bowl down next to his water. The dog's eyes never left the food in front of him as he bounced on his feet ready to attack his breakfast.

"No, Taco!" Christian ordered when Taco made the move of heading to the bowl.

The elevator dinged the same time Taco sat back down, his ass not touching the ground and his tail sweeping the marble floor.

Christian looked up trying to figure out who had Taylor or Sawyer let up this time. Taco sat up straighter and perked up his ears, also listening to any abnormal sound. In the end, he barked a few times just as Christian figured out who was at the foyer.

"Taco come on," he clapped wishing the dog to follow but he only barked once more pretentiously, and charged for the food. "Taco!" Christian knew that it was a lost cause, there was no way of stopping that dog from devouring his bowl now.

With a defeated sigh, he headed in the direction of the foyer still trying to figure out who was at the door even though he had an idea.

* * *

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	30. Letting The Cat Out Of The Bag

_**Letting the Cat Out of the Bag**_

_Before he was a Grey, he was a nobody._

_Despite with every news station reporting on the same pieces of news about Seattle's youngest businessman, if you ask them for the details of the life of Christian Grey, no one can give you an answer without making up stories here and there. In a country where we claim to have rights of speech, a prominent businessman still needs to reveal everything that's kept purposefully private just to justify himself to the public, even though it isn't anyone's business. Ironic isn't it?_

_However, Mr Grey does feel the need to do so, and I have been honored to be chosen as the person to conduct this exclusive interview with him…_

This was in the front page of the paper he read this morning. He had finally been granted a full paper and the first thing he saw was an article about himself, written by none other than Kaetlyn. The same person who wrote about the BDSM lifestyle.

He didn't know if this Kaetlyn was intentionally publishing articles to help him in his crisis or simply trying to spread awareness of the lifestyle and get more people to accept it, but it was working in his favor. Nonetheless, this lifestyle was still taboo to the mainstream culture the last time he checked.

…

[Continued from previous chapter]

Christian resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the sight before him because he knew that was disrespectful despite it being something Elena used to say.

"Mom, Dad, what brings you here?" He stepped into the foyer to greet his parents with forced enthusiasm.

He didn't know what went down between them and Anastasia because no one kept him up to date about her. He thought she was still in Copenhagen or Baltimore.

Though, that didn't change the fact that he had questioned his parent because they were so gullible before Elena. He wouldn't admit that he didn't trust them because he wanted to, but the truth was, either it was Elena or it stemmed from her, he had grown to distrust his parents with sensitive information such as his lifestyle.

And now, he had no idea what to think of it. For a moment, he felt like he was institutionalized, like some person who just came out of prison after a long time of serving with no idea what the real world was like.

When his eyes darted around searching for Flynn, he saw him sharing a knowing nod with the parents before retreating. Was this a setup? For him to re-acquaint himself with the outside world, starting with his own family.

"How are you, son?" Carrick asked stiffly and awkwardly. It really was sad that a family that used to be so affectionate and warm was now facing each other drowning in awkwardness. A father didn't even know what to say to his son.

"I'm well. Really well, in fact," Christian replied truthfully.

Grace's eyes never left her son, and when their gaze met, she didn't know if she was going to cry first or speak first because both actions were all involuntary at the moment. She opened her mouth but was halted by the heavy pounding of the big paws and the scratching sound of nails to the marble floor in a rush to turn around.

All eyes was attracted to Taco who was making an effort to make a right angle turn without slipping. It really would be a comedic sight to see, and there was a fatherly smile that subconsciously appeared on Christian's face that he didn't even notice.

His parents were witnessing the scene unfold intently, they had no idea that their son would come out therapy like this. Even though, Flynn was just finishing the treatment plan that he initially had outlined for Christian, only in a shorter time frame, the result was still very shocking.

"Meet Taco," Christian introduces proudly, he just realized that his family had never met his dog before.

He frowned when Taco kept a distance to the couple and made no effort to greet them with a hug like he would usually do to anyone. He just stayed by Christian's side and sniffed in their general direction.

"Taco? What's wrong?"

"Isn't that Ana's dog?" Grace asked Carrick when Christian bent down to sooth the dog. "We've seen it the last time we're here."

"You're here?" Christian frowned. "You've met Ana?"

"This is your dog?" Carrick asked Christian, brushing off his inquiries.

"Mine and Ana's. She sent him to me when I just started therapy so he can support me. Taco is a trained emotional support dog. He did help me overcome a great deal."

Another layer of guilt was added on Grace when she heard that Anastasia truly was the best for her son, and she helped separate them when he needed her the most. In his more dire situation, she was still there for him in her on way, and she jumped her gun too rashly accusing her of everything that she was not; all because she chose to believe Elena over the young woman.

"Mom, are you okay?"

Grace sniffed louder at Christian's worried voice. She had no idea that her tears sprang free, and now there was no holding back.

"Oh, Christian," she closed the distance between them and placed a hand gently on his cheek, cupping it and caressing it with her thumb. "I am so sorry," she chocked, "I have failed you in so many ways."

"Mom, what are you talking about?"

"Why didn't you tell me?" Grace continued as if Christian knew where her head was. Carrick helped her into the living room with Taco trailing behind them with morbid interest.

"Tell you what? I have no idea what's going on in the past six months," Christian explained, sitting down adjacent to his parents.

"Elena. You didn't come to us about her."

"Mom, it doesn't matter, there are already articles out there with all of my stories published. From before my adoption to my second abuse. That was the first thing I saw this morning when I was finally given the entire set of news papers instead of just the sports section. It was like the person had been through it, because it was so accurate- oh!"

Both pairs of eyes turned to him when he had a moment of epiphany. Pieces of memories were suddenly flooding back filling the missing gaps in his mind.

"Ana," he breathed out. "Ana, she must've went to the press about this."

"She did?" Carrick was instantly putting on his lawyer's shoes.

"No, I'm not mad. She did the right thing. She had to justify for me and prove to the world that I'm innocent, that I'm the victim; again."

"She had no right!"

"She had every right!" Christian defended. "I signed over my life to her, it was the only thing she could do when everyone wasn't buying a single world out of her mouth about me because she was the minority."

"When did you do that?"

"Right after I changed my personal attorney."

"You purposely shielded your possession from your family and gave it to someone who isn't even your legitimate next of kin?"

"Yes, because she is the only one that I can trust my entire asset with. You two are in so deep with whatever lies that Elena was spewing that I'm afraid my property will end up in her paws somehow. She's the family friend, so of course I'm going to leave everything to someone who can't be touched by Elena."

"Christian, do you know what happened to your company?"

"No, I don't. Which is why I'm going back tomorrow."

"Why don't we come back after you got caught up to everything at work, and we will catch up?" Grace's tears had finally subdued but coming back to the penthouse had brought up so many memories that she didn't want to recollect at the moment. She had done Anastasia wrong, so many times; probably too many to count.

How could she make amends to that kind of behavior?

Then there was her never quitting doubt about Anastasia's loyalty. Now, she could see everything so clearly. She should've never doubted that girl's love for her son in the first place, and she didn't know why she could let Elena put a wool before her eyes, blinding her from her true judgment. That time in the ER was supposed to be one of those scenes that could reinforce her belief that Anastasia was the best thing that had ever happened to her son, yet she chose to believe that it was an act.

"Grace, you have to let your mind rest a little before it goes overdrive," Carrick soothed gently once they were back in the elevator. He was aware that they still hadn't received the access code to his penthouse, and the last time they did, it was before Anastasia.

That could only mean he was trying to block people out, or in other words, only letting specific people in. Namely, Anastasia Steele.

…

JUNE 2016

The lone manila envelope was foregrounded by the neatness and cleanness of the COO's desk. There was no indication that she was the acting CEO for the past half a year, at least it wasn't shown on the items in the office. There was not a scrap of paper, not even one left in the shredder.

For a moment, Anastasia almost thought she arrived too late with the money to meet the due date because she could swear to everyone who would believe her that this wasn't what Ros's office looked like just yesterday when she was here.

The tick of the clock on the wall reminded her of the tight schedule that she was on. There was no time for her to linger and wonder why this office was so empty and unlike its usual state, she had to dash for the airport.

"I'm on my way," Anastasia said into the phone as soon as she picked up and hang up just as quick as she got into the cab the security guard hailed for her.

Adam just had to fly to Seattle a few days early because he wanted to leave for Baltimore with her; or that was what she was told. She genuinely thought he was actually back to meet family or something. Then, he took advantage of her busy schedule so he told her that they could book their tickets together, and he gave her the flight detail and she booked it.

Only to realize that it was some ridiculously early flight, or late depending on the angle you look at it.

It was at seven in the morning on the thirteenth of June.

There she thought she could pack her bags leisurely and head to the airport at her own pace because she could only get her last transaction in her account on the Monday of the second week of June, which was the thirteenth.

_Lucky me._

With that thought in her head, she checked her watch. It was just past six, she still had a little less than two hours before the scheduled departure. She had a bit of time to spare since it was a domestic flight, so she could grab some breakfast on the way.

Damn, Adam for being a morning person. At least they could be arriving at a decent time in the afternoon.

…

As usual, Ros arrived Grey House an hour earlier than that typical working hour at GEH. She would usually arrive around seven so she could get settled in but on a busy day, everyone would start at eight and interns at nine, but people typically all turn up between eight to nine. Other than Christian, she was always the earliest to arrive.

"Whoa," she nearly stumbled and tripped over her two stilettos. "What are you doing here?"

The security office's lights were on but there was no one inside, and when she head toward her own office, she could hear shuffling noises coming from the CEO's office. One that only Anastasia and Taylor went in and out of during the past few months. She knew for a fact that Anastasia wouldn't be here today, at least not this morning; and, Taylor wouldn't come in until nine.

Imagine her surprise when she walked over only to find none other than the CEO, Christian Grey himself, donned in his signature suit and tie, stood in the middle of the tidied office…

…Taco stood next to him on a tight leash, his nose held high in the air, sniffing around like there was an invisible person in the room.

"And… who is that?" Ros's eyes slowly shifted downward to the giant who still hadn't stopped sniffing. She didn't know if dogs could truly sniff out fear in a person but she dearly hoped not because she never liked dogs, and gigantic ones were even more more scary. She would rarely pass up a tiny puppy as cute when Gwen gushed about them on the street, and now she was faced with one, she could only imagine how Gwen would react.

"This is Taco, and I'm back."

"Taco?"

"The dog I share with Ana."

"And, why is this the first time I'm hearing about it…" she couldn't ask that question without quivering at the sight. That dog seemed to be taking an extended interest in her by the look of his nose that was now sniffing in her direction.

"Ana's taking care of it mostly but she sent him to me for emotional support the past few months. He has been a great help," Christian informed her proudly. "You're early. That's new," he countered with a light smile, noting her discomfort in the presence of the dog so he tightened the leash even more.

That didn't stop Taco from wanting to step forward so he could take a closer sniff at Ros.

"Why's he so interested in you?" Christian chuckled, as he pulled the leash against him giving him resistance and reprimanding him.

"I- I don't know… welcome back, boss," Ros scurried away before Christian could even understand what rushed out of her mouth. The door closed shut behind her.

The simple act of closing door brought back fresh memories, however.

_"Get the fuck out of my face!" He yelled at whoever just opened the door, hurling a pen stand at them._

_He heard a squeal and a mop of brunette hair before the door was slammed shut again._

_He couldn't figure out who that was, nor did he care at the moment. Though, that image was still engraved in his memory for some reason._

_Then, his door opened again._

_Taylor entered, followed by Flynn._

"Ana?" He wondered out loud. Taco tilted his head instantly at the name and his tail stopped wagging. He was staring up at Christian intently, listening to what he was going to say next because he recognized the name. "Ana?" Christian repeated the name, this time watching Taco's reaction, and he only tilted his head even more in the same direction.

Christian chuckled and unhooked his leash from the collar. His mind was still reeling from that brief recollection. He had scared her no doubt, and was that the reason why she hadn't even contact him even after all of his personal staff had reported that Anastasia was informed of his recovery.

He opened his office door after ordering Taco to stay and praying that he didn't steal anything from anywhere, he was met face to face with Ros who was hurrying to the atrium where the rest of the executive offices were.

She didn't notice him but his eyes followed her as she walked into the CFO's room. He checked his watch, it wasn't even nine. He assumed that everyone arrived at work at nine but he guessed his memory was too fuzzy to remember small details like this. He would always arrive as early as possible so he really didn't know when everyone else arrive.

_Eight it is, then._

He shrugged. Just when he was about to turn back to his office, a gasp interrupted him and he spun on his heel.

"Mr Grey," Andrea quickly composed herself and closed her gaping mouth. "Welcome back, sir."

"It's good to be back, Andrea," he smiled at her politely. He knew this behavior of his was very unlike the boss they used to know.

"Are you sure you're not let out by accident? Or you didn't sneak out?" Ros didn't waste a second to question him when she caught him standing in the middle of the lobby hesitating on where he should go or if he should just wait for Andrea.

"Let out from where?"

"The psych ward," Ros shrugged. "Taco's not with you right?"

"No, he's not let out of the office."

"I'm not going in your office anymore," Ros vowed with a dramatic shudder.

"Oh, good, at least I can keep your annoying ass out."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I didn't sneak out. I was _discharged_ from the 'psych ward'," Christian rolled his eyes and air-quoted with his fingers. "I thought you'd at least like the less cranky me."

"I think he's not very far."

"Maybe not, but at least I've got a new outlook on life."

"Oh, really?" Ros scoffed in disbelieve but she was secretly glad to have him back in a better form. She knew Anastasia was on the verge of admitting herself into the psych ward.

"Ros," the CFO walked out of the office holding the exact same manila folder that Ros just walked in with. She was halted in her tracks when she saw who was standing with her. "Oh, uh, Mr Grey. Welcome back!" She beamed, albeit a bit forced but it was due to surprise.

Christian returned the greeting. "What are you holding?"

The CFO and Ros shared a glance before she handed it over reluctantly.

Christian scanned the document from head to toe, his face remained impassive. This was not the first document he had anticipated to read on his first day back to work. It told him that his jet, his penthouse and his club were all been bought by a José Rodriguez and was signed over to Anastasia Steele on behalf of himself just this morning.

Even though those properties ultimately ended up in his name, he still needed to question why the whole procedure?

"Explain the story behind this?" Christian looked up at his two executives and led them to the table in the middle of the atrium so Ros could avoid glaring eye-to-eye with Taco because this envelope had a whiff of Anastasia's perfume.

"This was found on my desk this morning. It was signed just this morning," Ros pointed out as Christian took a closer look at the pages in hand.

"Yeah, but why Ana and why are they mortgaged? I know that I haven't paid everything for the jet and the club."

Ros looked at the CFO waiting for her to explain.

"The bank has called on us because we haven't been making payments, and they will be foreclosing on us if we don't pay in full by the end of May."

Christian brought the pages closer to himself and took a closer examination. The final payment was made on the very last day of May but signed over just this over. José's name was signed a week ago but Anastasia's only yesterday.

"Where's Ana?" He thought it would be better if he bring this to his proxy. After all, she signed this on his behalf.

"She's in Baltimore," Ros provided. "She said there's some award ceremony that she's attending. I don't know but I didn't see her yesterday so I don't know about this. I just know that she promised to secure these properties when I told her we might need to mortgage them."

"Baltimore? She's in Baltimore?" Christian exclaimed with incredulity. "Taylor!" He yelled and Taylor appeared.

They really must be telepathic if he could just appear out of thin air with a snap of Christian's fingers. Both employees thought the door to the security office was closed and soundproof.

"Sir?"

"Where is Ana?"

"I'm sorry?" Taylor frowned in confusion. That question came out of nowhere because Christian hadn't been demanding information about her in ages and the first time he did so, he was asking for her whereabouts?

Christian sighed and produced his phone at the dumbfounded Taylor, he shot Anastasia a text but there was no immediate response. So, he called. It went directly to voicemail.

Taylor didn't know what Christian was looking for so he texted Sawyer.

"Sir, she's in the air heading to Baltimore as we speak."

"So, I missed her by just an hour. Why is she going there?"

"For an award that she's nominated for, sir," he replied reading off the reply from Sawyer who remained in Seattle but was informed of the trip. Since the press had died down, Anastasia thought she could make this low-key trip without the help of security, believing it would only attract more attention.

"That's what I heard, but when is she coming back?"

"There is no return ticket booked."

"Is she not coming back?" Christian asked aloud and Taylor shrugged.

Ros and the CFO shared a worried glance with one another, they had no idea what to expect from the boss after six months of absence. The only person they met was Anastasia and every important personal document was signed by her on behalf of the CEO, the rest was by Ros as acting CEO.

"Fill me in on what has been going on," Christian requested. Ros glanced at him warily, she was fully aware of the state that he was in six months ago, and she wasn't informed of the recovery or given any updates on his wellbeing. She was even surprised at his return though she suspected that Anastasia knew beforehand.

"Does Ana know that you're coming back?" Ros asked tentatively as she walked by his side to a small conference room, the CFO went around to gather all executives for this impromptu meeting.

"I don't know," Christian replied truthfully. "You can ask Flynn, or any one of my personal staff, they're probably in contact with her." He had finally understood that they had activated some sort of emergency plan that he wasn't aware of, that was the only way Anastasia could have access to everything he owned.

Though the question was, why?

He thought he was only in intensive therapy but not incapable of making decisions for himself.

"Mr Grey," Andrea approached him with her iPad in hand, it was like he had never took a day off from work. "Mr José Rodriguez has requested to take up all of your afternoons for this week."

"All of it?" Christian turned around facing her.

"Yes, all," she reiterated.

"Why?"

"He didn't specify but he did make this call in person."

"Which Rodriguez?"

"Senior, sir."

_This must be beyond important._

…

Anastasia stepped off of the plane with Adam right behind her. He was scrolling through his phone checking for new messages or any kind of update—which he had none. Their plane was assigned to a hanger far away from the terminal so they had to take the bus, and she was struck with the moist and humidity that she had found herself reminiscing.

Unlike Adam, her phone was blowing up.

There was a message from Ros telling her that she had got the file on her desk. She had to admit that a part of her was expecting Ros to yell at her for not giving any heads up beforehand.

Then, there was a text from Burt. He was asking her if she knew about José's involvement.

"This is absurd," Anastasia muttered with a grimacing face at the text from Burt. "José is in Seattle," she raised the phone to her ear the moment it was answered. "I met with him this morning."

"This morning? Aren't you on a plane this morning?"

"Very early this morning," Anastasia stressed, following Adam blindly to the shuttle bus and accepting all his help on the way.

"What at five in the morning?"

"Considering I dropped the files off at six in the morning, I'd say that guess is pretty close."

"Where did you even meet him?"

"At his hotel."

"And, who's the witness?"

"Luke Sawyer and José's assistant. Are they not enough?"

"Luke's not with you is he?" She could hear Burt rubbing his face.

"No, you can call him."

"Okay, I will do that. Is there video witness evidence?"

"I don't know, you can ask Sawyer for security footage maybe?"

"They should've been more careful with this kind of transaction," Burt growled. While Anastasia could understand his distrust toward this wealthy family but she thought she hadn't been too careless since she was dealing with José Sr not his rather inexperienced son.

"Who did you meet with?" Burt asked just as she was about to hang up.

"José Rodriguez," she replied. "Senior," she then added.

"Oh!" That was probably the answer he was fishing for. "Thank you, I'll call Luke."

"What?" Adam asked when Anastasia stowed her phone away with a deep scowl on her face.

"Nothing," she brushed his concern away.

"Sure."

"I can't tell you, okay?" She rolled her eyes at his attitude.

"I'm just concerned, Jesus. Who pissed in your Cheerios today?"

"No one. I didn't eat breakfast."

The shuttle bus came to a halt abruptly and everyone was thrown toward one another. At that moment, her phone flew out and it landed on someone before sliding to the ground, then sliding forward on the floor.

"No!" Anastasia yelled, trying to reach out for it when the screen lit up for another incoming call. It was from Burt, again. She had to take it because she knew of all people in GEH, this lawyer was crucial to her because she still had a pending hearing over her head.

When everyone finally steadied themselves, ignoring all the curses and complaints from people around her, she shuffled forward through the crowd acting all clumsy and fat, she finally squeezed over and saw that there was a miss call.

She sighed and picked up her phone, pressing on it to call back crossing her fingers before her and looking at the sky to pray that Burt could pick up.

But, he didn't.

_Ana, I'm in a meeting with Mr Grey._

Was all she got as a respond.

"Fuck!" She swore. "Sorry," realizing that she had cussed too loudly that an elderly couple was throwing her dirty glances.

The hearing was going to be next week and if it wasn't withdrawn, she really had to show up and that was the least she wanted.

But, at least Christian was back.

She could only pray that José was going to help.

Lastly, there was a text asking where she was and a missed call from Christian. She sighed, and decided to return them when she arrived at her hotel. It really was the last thing she could afford—the hotel room, because she had used the majority of her savings to buy the club from the bank.

…

"Who was that?" Christian demanded when Burt's phone rang for the second time in this meeting.

"Dr Steele," Burt cleared his throat and silenced the phone.

"Answer it," Christian ordered.

"What?"

"Do it."

"Excuse me," Burt stood up shakily from the seat and exited the conference room leaving the other executives inside.

Christian followed not long after.

"… she revoked it."

He walked out only hearing that last bit and Burt was silent, listening to Anastasia's reply intently. Christian closed the conference room door behind him, and that click startled Burt. He turned around sharply.

"Ana, I'm in a meeting with Mr Grey."

Christian frowned when he used her first name.

"No, she sued Elena… you're clear… there will be no hearing for you next week…" a faint smile appeared on his lips and Christian's frown only deepened. "You're good, yes. So, don't worry about it."

"What was that about?" Christian asked, and Burt knew this grilling was coming.

"One of your ex-submissives sued her."

"What do you mean?" He glared at him. "Obviously, none of you have been telling me everything."

Christian growled as he pushed the door to the conference room open, when he strode back in, everyone in the room felt the temperatures drop.

…

It was hard to school in his expression and appear to be impassive throughout the whole process. The success at purchasing his then billion-dollar project was probably the best update he had heard. What bothered him the most was the fact that Anastasia had to go through José to secure his properties for him.

While he didn't know of the relationship between Anastasia and the Rodriguez father-son duo, he was becoming increasingly worried about her being possibly indebted to someone for paying such a large sum.

The fact that his family and Ros were buying GEH shares alarmed him. He knew that he wasn't in the best state and so was his company but he had no idea that it was that bad. He thought about buying himself out, but his wealth was closely tied to his company and there really wasn't that much cash disposable in his hand at the moment.

"How was your first day?" Flynn asked when they sat down in his office after dinner.

"This is too much," he groaned, throwing his head back against the sofa as he let out a deep sigh. "I'm surprised all of those fucked up news doesn't set me back."

"I told you, you just need to be prepared. Your mental preparation time is just a lot longer than other people but that doesn't make you a weak individual. I'm sure you're able to take the hit if it weren't for all the foreshadowing from Elena."

"And, if I just kept Ana around."

…

Christian still wasn't completely caught up with everything that went on, simply because the events were just so hard to digest and swallow for him.

It was his company that took a hit.

It was his reputation that got shattered and destroyed.

It was him that was on the brink of insanity.

Even the best team couldn't pull him back from filing for bankrupting.

If only he was more well-established.

If only he had more money.

If only he never got seduced by Elena.

If only…

He was prevented from drowning and submerging entirely in his misery when his home study's door was knocked on.

"Your parents are coming up. I have granted them access," Taylor announced.

"Fuck, it's only Friday," Christian groaned. The last time his parents were here, he practically kicked them out in a much more polite way and this time, he couldn't.

He had no doubt that his parents was here more than _just_ to talk about his birthday and check up on him.

Because just the day before, another article was released about him from Kaetlyn.

* * *

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing. Also for favoriting and following!**

**Happy Thanksgiving, btw!**

**X**


	31. Too Late

_**Too Late**_

Anastasia saved Christian from bankrupting but she still hadn't saved Grey Enterprises Holdings from doing so.

"Kate, did you publish that article?"

"I did. It's earlier than we planned, I know."

"Yeah, and you know what? You need to come clean to Christian," Anastasia said in a hushed tone.

When Kate heard that Anastasia was going to be in Baltimore for the week, she drove down to meet her despite her unfinished assignment; it could wait a day.

They were now strolling in some park enjoying the sun, and soaking in the heat… well the mugginess in general, perhaps. It would be better if they were doing a fungi experiment out here.

It was a Friday and Anastasia needed to go back tonight so she could finally meet Christian for the first time in six months.

"If you're not going to call him and tell him that, I will. Tomorrow when I go back."

Kate took a sip of her coffee and sighed. She stared at the ground as she played around with the tiny stones with the sole of her sandals.

"Malcolm told me to do it now. He said to publish it before the popularity dies completely. I mean, people already moved on from this whole Christian Grey fiasco, they all believed either he bankrupted or he didn't. Clearly, he didn't because his company is still there."

"You listened to Malcolm over me?" Anastasia snapped at her best friend incredulously. "Are you sure he's not your lover?" She accused hotly. "He doesn't know shit about what's going on in Seattle. Yes, he has a point that you should publish it when people still cared, so you can sway their beliefs, but before you inform me?"

"I sent them to my father and he thought today was a good day for it to be in the papers. I sent it over on Tuesday, I think."

"Kate, the problem is," Anastasia stopped in her tracks thus forcing Kate to stand still as well.

"What?" Kate was suddenly alarmed by the stern expression on Anastasia's face.

"Christian is back."

Kate frowned in confusion.

"Christian is back at the office, full time. This is his trial week but I am almost absolutely sure there is no such thing as easing back to work. In his position, there is only diving in head first."

"Oh… fuck… god…" Kate blanched as she stuttered our those words. "I thought this thing isn't completely over because obviously people still think he's a monster and a psychopath."

"Yes, and so am I. After my Instagram account hack debacle."

"Maybe my dad's influence is enough to turn the tides."

"I have confidence that it can, but Christian still needs to know who Kaetlyn is before he sues the fuck out of you. Or his lawyer does. The last article was published at the tail of this chaos so no one really gave two shits even though it was widely reported."

"It made a little difference. Better than the very first one."

"So, this one Your dad just released. It's about Christian's BDSM history?"

"Yes, and I have incorporated my previous article in it. Malcolm has read it and approved it accurate enough. That interview is just supposed to show how traumatized an individual he was growing up and how that shaped him now. This one is supposed to be the one that gains sympathy votes."

"I'm sure your dad can turn people against Elena. It's what needs to be done, because that bitch is still on the run."

"Didn't you sue her?"

"The Court hearing is on the Fourth of July and before then, there's not a single fucking thing I can do other than keep gathering evidence."

"I thought you can have her arrested for porn."

"I can if I can actually turn in the evidence that we obtained through illegal means!"

"Didn't you tip the FBI?"

"They need to acquire a search warrant."

"Are they doing that now?"

"They probably are, but those things don't get approved easily. So, again, with the waiting."

"I thought Christian's goons have like buddies in every system."

"They can only do so much and influence so much, Kate. What had to be done still had to happen, it's a procedure that just had to happen for records."

"This system is going to ruin a whole lot of things and miss so many opportunities."

"You're telling me."

…

Elena examined her gun and flipped through her calendar.

She combed through all the possible dates when she could execute her plan, and nothing seemed more perfect than this date.

The Fourth of July.

She grinned in satisfaction and placed the gun back into the glove before stalling it in her safe and opened the door to her office.

"Isaac!" She called into the empty house.

Jack had disappeared, not that she cared too much about it since he left no trace of their involvement behind; but, Isaac's money also vanished with him.

"What took you so long?" Elena snapped. Isaac had been mopping around since he was told that Jack never came in the other day when he went to the salon to see him.

His only chance at escaping this shit hole had gone to shit. There was no way of getting the money that he already had in his account out because Jack promised to teach him that when the time comes.

It just never did.

And now he knew it was just a ploy.

He was now helplessly stuck in Elena's house, and all he did was try to limp around more when he accompanied her to social gatherings and dinners, just so he could get noticed.

And attention he got—the more people asked about him and questioned his well-being, the worse he was tortured.

He knew that Elena had been less edgy lately, and his punishments had lightened a fraction, but whenever someone brought up concerns about his 'injuries from sports', Elena would blame him for not being in control of his behavior.

He just needed to break out of this fortress.

And he knew the day of that court hearing was his perfect chance.

The Fourth of July.

…

"Oh my god, I didn't know you'd be back so soon. I'm sorry, I didn't think of that part. I thought you could mail the paperwork."

"Meet me in my office."

"When?"

"Thirty minutes before midnight and bring a witness."

"Okay, I'll be there." She made a mental note to call Kate and ask her to drive down last minute, she knew it would be asking a lot because she must be really tired since she just got off work after an entire week of working nonstop.

"I thought you'd want to get this done as soon as possible."

Anastasia chuckled. "Thank you for going through all the trouble so late at night."

"I will be at the lobby waiting. Be punctual."

"I will," she promised.

"I'm boarding the jet. I will go there straight from the airport."

"I'll be waiting at out front," she guaranteed.

An incoming call came through right after they hang up. She didn't even have the chance to check the caller ID.

"Hello?"

…

Ros and Christian stepped out of the conference room with José Sr next to them. Tomorrow would be his birthday, and he hadn't looked forward to celebrating it in a long time; the last time was probably when he and Anastasia were still dating. He had a feeling that this celebration would be more than just about his birthday but more about him overcoming his mental obstacles through intense therapy.

Nevertheless, the thought of having Anastasia back was much more elating and enthusiastic.

A portion of Christian felt relieved, but another part of him was still bothered by José's vague and very cryptic explanation of what would happen to his shares.

"I am only a proxy, Christian."

Throughout this entire meeting, Ros was scowling at the old gentleman. No matter how renowned he was in the business industry, she still found him skeptical. She thought he was keeping something from them, something that they should know about. She had no idea what Christian's dealings were with him but she got a feeling that Christian trust this man a little too much.

"My client, that's using the term loosely, doesn't wish to reveal their identity. However, I can assure you that this company isn't going to end up in the hands of my family member. It will remain in your family legacy."

"I am not following."

"You can trust me to sign over the shares accordingly," José assured. Christian appeared to be convinced but Ros only got more worried. It wasn't her company but it might as well be since she had put in so much effort into helping it grow and succeed.

The moment the meeting was over and saw José out of the office, Ros stomped away from him.

"What are you doing, Ros?" Christian demanded she halted at the door of his office refusing to enter as she typed furiously on her phone.

"I'm telling Ana," she glared at her boss as if Anastasia was the whispered that would make Christian change his mind about anything. It was only true to an extent, and he would bend most of the rules just for her, but he wasn't going to do that this time unless she had a convincing argument. "Shit, she's probably busy."

"Or in the air," Christian inputted smugly. "She's coming back for my birthday," he grinned when Ros gave him an incredulous glare. The happy face did look good on him, still it was odd to see that rare smile only Anastasia could put on, as it seemed.

"I'm going to call her," Ros decided stubbornly and defiantly, "because I don't believe you," she raised the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ana! It's Ros."

"Hi, how are you?"

"I don't have time for small talks," Ros said urgently. "I need to tell you something."

"Okay?"

"Your boyfriend," Ros sneered menacingly while glaring at Christian. Not that either of them particularly care that some people still assumed that they were secretly dating, it was still kind of weird to hear it in person; for the both of them as they both cringed.

Christian snorted a chuckle and disappear behind his office, closing the door in Ros's face seeing that she had no intention of entering with him or moving her spot from the door.

"Is out of his goddamn mind! Sold his entire company to some stranger." She finished after sending a glare to the person behind the closed door.

"What do you mean?" It was hard to keep the mirth out of her tone because she knew exactly what was going on and what she was referring to. It was why she got that previous phone call in the first place.

"He sold 51% to Rodriguez."

"Did he not give you a reason?"

"I don't know what his dealings with them are, but I swear there're some secret connections between them because Rodriguez had been paying for too much! And, now he's taken over the whole damn company! I need you to come back. Where are you?"

"On the other side of the country," Anastasia replied nonchalantly, it was the only tone she could muster without Ros getting suspicious.

"When are you coming back? You need to knock some sense into Christian's head before he ruins his entire legacy."

"Relax, Ros," Anastasia soothed. "I'll be back for his tomorrow for his birthday. I'll talk to him, yeah?" She placated with a slight smile. "He's already done it."

"Yeah, but it doesn't take effect until next Monday. So, you have to come back and tell him that he's made a hasty decision. Do you even know who he's client is?"

Anastasia couldn't help but chuckle softly at Ros's frantic panic. Luckily, Ros didn't hear her.

"I gotta go, but I'll be back for sure. Christian will be hearing from me," Anastasia told the COO before hanging up hastily.

"You're going to ruin this entire company, Christian!" Ros stormed into the office shouting at Christian who just settled behind his desk after coming out of the attached en suite

"I'm well aware of the risks, Ros, but you don't have to have a panic attack, just yet. The Rodriguez has been helping us in New York."

"Exactly! They've been helping us, a little too much, might I add! They've spent millions of dollars on us, and they're asking nothing in return? Don't you think this is a little suspicious? Do you have any idea what they're playing at?"

"No, but I do trust them with my company. They're the only investor that hasn't pulled out."

"Is that your reasoning? I'm not buying it."

"Okay, look, I don't have any secret dealings with the family, if that's what you're thinking about. I'm not fucking the daughter because he doesn't have one, and sex wouldn't solve an issue this big. But, I do trust them and I do have an idea of what their 'client' is."

"Who?" Ros pressed.

Christian took out the file that she gave him on Monday morning.

"Ana? You think they're working for Ana?"

"I have reasons to believe that's the reason behind their purchase."

Ros frowned.

"I just don't know what their relationship is but I do know that if they signed this documents in such a rush, there must be more."

"You don't know what they've negotiated behind your back. All you can see is a contract attached with the lease, there are no agreements attached."

"Very true, there aren't, but still, that's the one explanation that makes the most sense. Besides, I don't have the monetary means to keep it to myself. I have to sell them. My wealth is tied to my company."

…

"José, hey," Anastasia answered her phone in her hotel room as she packed the last bit of her toiletries into her bag the next morning. She came back to the hotel late at night with Kate and let her stayed the night after the meeting.

She had sent a text to Christian answering his text and informing him that she'd be back to celebrate his birthday with him some time in the afternoon. Though her subconsciousness was almost snarling at her for being so forewarned—he hadn't even said a single thing about his birthday!

It was already late in the afternoon and she had just seen Kate to the car, wishing her a smooth journey back to New York with the promise to visit soon.

The storm had died down greatly, and Christian was back, she suddenly felt like a huge weight was off of her shoulders.

"I'm good, how are you?"

She couldn't help but smile at the thought of finally heading back to Seattle and celebrate the birthday of the man that she gave everything to save. It felt like she could finally experience a normal day in so long.

"I'm well. Did you meet my dad?"

"Yes, I met with him really early on Monday before I flew out."

"Oh, good. How's the shipyard?"

"It's doing really well, last I heard from Ros. You know I don't know anything about it right? I don't know the details, but I heard it was doing better than expected."

"I'm glad, anything to help my dad's lifesaver."

Anastasia chuckled awkwardly. "When are you heading back to Seattle?"

"Tonight," she replied, a bad feeling started to stir in the pit of her stomach.

"Actually, can you do me a small favor? I will send my jet for you tomorrow."

"Uh… sure," she thought she wasn't in the position of turning him down. After all, this family did just spend millions of dollars for her. "What can I do?" She asked, keeping the annoyance and irritation out of her tone as she dropped her bag and slumped onto her bed in defeat.

"I have a friend that has to undergo a craniotomy. His family wants a second opinion, and I was wondering if you could provide that."

"Oh!" Anastasia was caught off guard by that request. She had no idea that she would be asked to do something like this out of all favors he could ask. "Yes, no problem," her mouth moved before her brain could even catch up to what she had just agreed to.

Over the last six months, she didn't stop studying anyway, she placated to herself.

"Perfect! I will send a car to collect you."

"Where is this friend?"

"Johns Hopkins."

"In Baltimore?"

"Yes, don't worry, the car will drive you straight there."

"When should I be there?"

"Tomorrow morning, I hope you don't have anything important. Is there anything you can't cancel or reschedule tomorrow?"

_Christian's birthday._

She thought bitterly, but her guilt washed over her and took over. "No," she uttered before she could stop herself.

"Oh, good! Then, the car will be there at ten, so you can have a lazy morning." José grinned but Anastasia couldn't share his sentiment, she forced a smile and bid him farewell.

_Should've been more adamant and actually decline it._

_Fuck._

…

_I'm flying out tonight. I'll be there tomorrow for your birthday._

"Christian, I thought you are in business with Eamon?" Carrick, always the lawyer, asked after they exchanged pleasantries upon entry and Gail served them with their refreshments. Christian knew he was in for a long conversation.

Still, that text to from Anastasia definitely was the highlight that made his day.

"I was."

"Was?" Grace scowled. She clearly didn't have the better understanding of Christian's situation than Carrick, albeit the latter's was still lacking.

"He had to dissolve our business partnership when my reputation took a hit and subsequently brought my company down. I'm lucky that my company isn't public."

"Is that why he's published this article about you and Elena?" Carrick interrogated.

"What the article said is true. Everything it said happened. Maybe not so dramatically, but it is very much factual."

"So, Ana wasn't exaggerating when she told us about Elena?" Grace stared at her son agape, her face was purely horror stricken when Christian simply nodded his head.

"So, you knew?"

"Ana told us when we were called over to discuss your will," Carrick scowled recalling that day. As a lawyer, he still wasn't completely convinced what Whitmore said was true or legitimate, but his focus had been thrown toward the accusations Anastasia were pointing at Elena.

"My will?" Christian voiced out loud.

"The contingency plan, sir," Taylor provided from the corner. Christian frowned at him, if it wasn't for Taco that came bounding over happily clearly just came back from a run outdoor, he would've kicked Taylor to the curb for interrupting. "It's what we called it when you left everything to Ana."

He disappeared efficiently, leaving Christian to digest the words.

"Ana… so she was here?"

"You don't know?" Grace frowned at her son. He appeared so disjointed right now that it worried her.

"I… don't know that she was here. I know that she's been involved in keeping my company and all of my assets."

"She accused us of bad parenting," Grace tattled. "She said that Elena took advantage of you and I was the one that fed you to her. And, she said it right in front of Elena!"

"Grace," Carrick laid a gentle hand on her thigh, calming her down. "Son, how much of the article was true?"

"What did Ana tell you?" Christian deflected his father's question, he needed answers first before he could answer any inquiries from them.

So, for the next half an hour, Carrick narrated the events that went down in the penthouse the day he lost his mind and went into shock. Grace butted in hotly and made some accusing comments here and there, basically strengthening her stance that she couldn't believe all that Anastasia had said; though, she had come to the realization that Elena had took advantage of him.

"How much of that was true?" Carrick asked again, this time referring to the version from Anastasia six months ago.

Christian wanted to laugh at the irony because he was certain that the article also came from Anastasia. He just had to figure out how she got it out.

"All of them," he stated.

"So, Ana wasn't exaggerating?" Grace's eyes were already brimming with tears, and one blink would have them rolling down her cheeks. Christian didn't want to see his mother cry, he didn't want to see her upset. No matter what wrong they've did him, he would always be grateful for their adoption and would always feel guilty for being a troublesome kid growing up.

Perhaps that was what Anastasia felt towards him sometimes?

She would always be grateful for his help when she was almost in destitution with no money to start her research and no prospect because her parents weren't supportive of her career choice. And, she would always feel that thin layer of guilt for coming up with the pact, and subsequently relinquish her support for him both morally and emotionally.

A part of him would always wonder what would have happened if she had stayed, and they had maintained good communication. Would he have come clean to his family? Would he have ended Elena sooner?

"Dad," Christian suddenly remembered as he thought of the devil. "Ana has sued Elena on my behalf."

Carrick was certainly not expecting that.

"We've been so wrong about Ana, Cary," Grace cried, she was now full-on sobbing.

"When is the hearing?"

"The Fourth of July."

Christian had to admit that when he heard the date, he did a double take. He wanted to change it, but thought better. It could've been such a perfect way to put an end to this nightmare and start a life with Anastasia. It was their anniversary after all, and they'd always do something significant on this day.

"I can try to see if we can move it forward."

"Okay," Christian had already asked Burt if it was possible and the answer came back negative, which was why he wasn't expecting much from his father's attempt either.

…

Anastasia stepped out of the town car and slammed the door close behind her. Her phone in her hand as she located the right wing of the building. She hadn't even told Christian that she would t be able to make it back. Or more like she didn't know how to break the news to him without hurting him.

The smell of in-patient hospital buildings immediately struck her nostrils. She hadn't been in one of those for a few months now, and her last visit here was in the operation room area.

"Hi, I'm here for a Dr Hall?" Anastasia read from the text she got from José as she informed the nurse station.

"Dr Hall is currently doing her round of check up, she will be available shortly."

She thanked whoever spoke and moved down the hall to an area where it seemed less crowded and busy. Quickly, she realized she was standing in front of the doctor's office.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A doctor inside saw her apprehensive face.

"Hi, I'm looking for a Dr Hall?" She asked, only just noticing the last name sounding a tad bit familiar.

"Oh," the doctor looked around, he was just about to call for a nurse when he smiled at the person behind her. "She's right behind you."

Anastasia spun around and was met face to face with a woman with strawberry blonde hair that reminded her of Gia Matteo, that interior designer who didn't know when to quit, and her facial features just reminded her of Adam for some reason.

"Dr Hall?" Anastasia was just about to introduce herself when the both of their eyes lit up in recognition of one another.

"Ana!"

"Addie!" This was the anesthesiologist that Anastasia's head of department was trying to get, but she just wouldn't agree to a transfer.

Anastasia thought she was here to see a neurologist, she had no idea she would be seeing someone of the same profession.

"José called me," she started to explain.

"Oh, okay, I know what you're doing here," Addie smiled at her kindly and pulled her out of the office and down the hall. "José insists on talking to you before moving him under the knife."

"Who is the friend?"

"Some business associate," she shrugged. "José was my high school classmate. We are pretty close."

"So, what am I doing here?" Anastasia asked. "And, wait, your last name is Hall."

"Yes, I am Adam's younger sister."

"Adam has a sister?"

"He never told you," Addie laughed affectionately. "He did mention you and he knows that we know each other from working in the same profession. I moved over when my husband died in an accident," she offered a brief account of her background.

"Oh," Anastasia was just about to tease her about coming to work with her. "I'm sorry."

"That was a couple of years ago."

Her mind reeled back to the accident that Christian was in, she was lucky that she didn't lose him then.

"I'm planning on returning to U Dub soon." She leaned over and whispered secretively.

"Oh?" For a second she thought this woman could read minds.

"Your department Director has been pining after me for the longest time."

"So, you know."

"He's reached out once or twice," Addie laughed a carefree laugh.

"I don't know whether to feel embarrassed or proud of his bluntness," Anastasia chuckled awkwardly, she still felt a little embarrassed.

"I've been wanting to do that for a while now," she mouthed to the brunette quietly with a mysterious smile.

They reached the patient's room in time to see José speed walking down the hallway. They both stopped in their tracks and waited for the gentleman to reach them.

That visit turned from one morning's consultation to an appointment in the operation room.

On the surface, Anastasia put up a brave face and acted all polite and friendly, but on the inside, she wanted to crucify José for asking her such a favor. She was stepping on other doctors' toes _and_ she missed Christian's birthday!

Stepping on other doctors' toes was the least of her concerns at the moment because she had to delay her return till Sunday night. And, even that was achieved when she insisted on returning. It was then, José requested the jet to be prepared and ready for her when she would board right after coming out of surgery.

Or so she thought that was the plan.

There was no turning down of the dinner invitation from both José after they stepped out of the hospital late in the afternoon.

She was just itching to return to Seattle and apologize to Christian and she was furious with herself for not setting her priorities right, and let her guilt trip herself into agreeing to José's favor.

When she finally got on the jet, she texted Elliot asking him to send her pictures of his birthday.

He may appear to be happy but she could see that disappointment deep in his eyes and on his features. She wasn't sure if his parents had caught on or if he had told them but it was clear as day to her that he wasn't enjoying a single second.

It crushed her that she was the cause behind those sad gray eyes.

…

"Isaac, are you okay?" A hairdresser steadied the young boy after seeing him almost fall for the umpteenth time as he limped through the lobby of the salon.

It wasn't a busy Friday afternoon for them so there weren't many customers, and subsequently most of the attention fell upon the son of their boss.

"Don't mind him," Elena walked out of the office just in time to witness the scene. "Isaac, come work in my office and you will be in nobody's way."

Isaac stood up and gathered his homework in his arms messily as he followed Elena obediently to her office with his head bowed.

It would raise more suspicion among the workers if they hadn't gotten used to his behavior and consistent obedience to her. Still, the limping didn't escape the eyes of those workers, who quite frankly, didn't have anything to do at hand—they just knew better than to argue with Elena.

…

JULY 2016

Anastasia contemplated on sending a text or just call Christian and apologize for not showing up at his birthday but something in her just kept making her doubt.

When she send the text informing him about her arrival, there was nothing from him, he didn't even reply. It made her think that he didn't want her there and he actually didn't want to see her.

The thought was stupid, and her rational mind knew that, but it couldn't stop the sentimental part of her to believe this theory to be true.

It was the only thought that was stopping her from just showing up at his house—knowing that she would probably never have the time to allow herself to pondering too much before something demanded her attention making her drop the thought.

The photos from Elliot and then Mia were always there to remind her that she had let Christian down, again. That would always be the reason which led her to picking up the phone and hovering above Christian's contact information in the first place. Then, she was reminded of her unanswered text, and the doubt crept in. It was a cycle; and it would always be interrupted by work because the research in Copenhagen got approved and they were going to apply for a patent.

She might have to return there for further experiments but that was until they were approved for patents.

The frustration and her internal debate plus her work pushed the apologetic phone call from mid-June all the way to the beginning of July.

She was adamant to not miss their anniversary and she would see him in person. She wouldn't compromise that on any terms.

Then, her phone rang.

She sighed, it seemed like that was the only thing she ever did since the beginning of this year—taking phone calls and making them.

"Hello?" She picked up with an exasperated sigh. She had made completed the series of motions to check the caller ID before answering but her mind really wasn't in it, which was why she forgot who was on the other end.

"Ana," it was male, and the voice sounded oddly familiar and something told her that she hadn't heard this voice in ages. It wasn't a member of her family because they had called her, and it always ended up with her hanging up on them for being too nosy.

They were just trying to be kind and her parents were really just worried about her, but in her mindset then, she didn't think she could deal with anymore fussing from anyone anymore, so she had to shut _someone_ down. Unfortunately, she directed those stress at her parents. Which reminded her that she had to pay them a visit and explain everything.

It wasn't lost on her that Elena was still roaming around the streets somewhere in Seattle, and she wasn't even sure that she would show up at the hearing even if she knew that she wasn't the only one that sued her; though, her chargers were so much more severe than the rest.

Anastasia pulled the phone away and glanced at the caller ID quickly to avoid prolonging the awkwardness that was already forming.

"Hi John," she quickly returned to the call. "I'm sorry, your call caught me off guard, I wasn't expecting you to call since Christian has recovered…" she rambled.

"It's okay, Ana, but Christian has expressed concerns for Taco."

"Okay?" She briefly wondered why couldn't he call her himself, and this was the perfect time for her doubt to set in and persuade herself otherwise. Now, she was truly believing that Christian simply didn't want to see her and she had been too forward with the text.

"Could you please take him to the vet and check him out? Christian still has to be cautious when he's in public. We're giving it a few more months before everything dies down completely."

"Oh, uh… sure," she thought he would have Taylor or Sawyer take Taco out. "Anything else?"

"Taco's just been vomiting and feeling weak these days."

Anastasia was half expecting John to fill her in on Christian's progress, but since he had been back to the office for two to three weeks, it was safe to assume that she had been removed from the duty of being his legal guardian.

"Uh, yeah, sure… when do you want me to collect him?" She blinked back, trying to compose herself and not sound like his answer was nothing that she had expected.

"Tomorrow maybe? We'll see how he is tonight. Jason or Luke will call you."

"Okay," Anastasia agreed.

Fourth of July was just around the corner, and if she still couldn't muster up courage to approach Christian, she would miss their anniversary and she wasn't about to be a pussy.

…

Christian was already trumped by Anastasia's no show on his birthday, and despite Flynn's encouragement, he refused to reach out believing that he shouldn't bother her even more especially after the whole scandal that he dragged her in. The whole point of distancing himself from her was to prevent her name from being dragged through the mud, but it still occurred.

_Guess it really didn't matter if Elena knew of the true nature of our relationship._

And, now he felt like an utter fool. Not because he was in love but because he had allowed Elena to play the biggest joke on him and making him the laughing stock of the entire century for falling for such prank.

Taco hadn't been feeling well lately, and he had been puking all over yesterday. Christian had suspected that he picked up something from the trash when they went running in the morning.

_Can't even take care of a dog. What the fuck am I still doing here?_

* * *

**Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	32. Too Good At Goodbyes

_**Too Good At Goodbyes**_

FOURTH OF JULY 2016

Taco simply got a lung infection that could be easily cured with some antibiotics. He was a strong pup, hadn't taken ill since he arrived in the penthouse. Then, during all of the travels with Anastasia, she hadn't seen him once having trouble adjusting to the changes. In fact, he was even more resilient than her.

The St. Bernard was now resting in the living room of Ethan's apartment. When Anastasia flew back from Baltimore, she was called to Northwest with a job offer—surprising the shit out of her. She wasn't expecting them to offer her a job, since her reputation had been tainted by the scandal that she had been associated with, after all. She thought José might have something to do with it, but he denied it. Shockingly, it was her work in Copenhagen that got her the attention and recognition.

There she thought she'd be out of a job or forced to go back to the East Coast to start over with her very limited savings, and now she got a decent job in the main site of the hospital that she had been working for in the past few years, doing the job that she had been excelling in.

She had picked up the dog two days ago, took him to the vet yesterday afternoon when she got off work, and when she was finally able to settle for the night with hopefully a good night's sleep since Taco wouldn't be fussing, she couldn't fall asleep.

It was just over midnight, and her mind was everywhere.

From the latest press release from Kate at the end of June detailing and clarifying the relationship between the pimp and Christian, to her recent business conduction with the Rodriguez and her agenda to return to Montesano in the next few days. All the while, the events around Christian's birthday never left the back of her mind.

She was technically the owner of the 51% GEH shares. It wasn't that she didn't want to tell Christian about this and sign the shares over, but when she approached the CFO and Burt, they both advised her to remain silent about it until after the court hearing to ensure that the shares wouldn't end up in the wrong hands. Keeping it in her names would be a much safer solution than under Christian's.

She still couldn't fathom why she wasn't even allowed to inform Ros and Christian about her ownership but she thought if them not knowing was the best, then she would listen to the advise. The last thing she wished for was for Christian to have a major set back and for GEH to fall again after surviving the damage.

Kate said that after her last article, she had successfully persuaded her father to help. According to her in her latest update, Kavanagh Media had been able to sway the public and turn the tides, at least in Seattle. However, they had no idea the impact it would have on the nation. For now, many sources and reports in Seattle were trying to cleans Christian's sins, at least started to do so. It was better than still being subjected to negativity. Though, it brought him under the spotlight once again.

All Anastasia could gather from Kate as she updated on the reports on fighting on the media's war zone was the fact that her articles had very little effect since it was too much of a minority, but at least it somewhat decreased the speed companies were pulling out. She could only hope that Eamon was able to persuade investors from returning, though even she knew the chances were thin.

During the past month, she had not once thought of Elena, much to her surprise. Now that everything had quiet down and she was laying in the darkness in utter peacefulness, she was beginning to wonder if her laying low was another ploy of hers. It would be her style to stay quiet and then strike all of a sudden taking everyone off guard.

There was nothing about her anywhere, not even news reports that covered the social events; or perhaps it was her that was just too busy to even remain up-to-date with the current news. She had been relying on the people around her to provide her with information and news that she was only realizing now that she was actually living a pretty lonesome life.

That wasn't the point of this musing but that did make her reflect much more deeply. Not only was she too naïve and inexperienced when it came to her romantic relationship with Christian, she was also too stubborn regarding her career. In hindsight, she had blindly undermined Christian's mental state and forgot about his history with victimization. She was too used to the Christian around her that she had forgot all about the Christian that didn't have her support.

She should've been there for him even when he refused her. She should've been more insistent when he couldn't see how good they were as a team. She should've reminded him that everything would get better if they were working as one.

Yet, none of that mattered now, because everything had already happened. His lifestyle was exposed, despite that being the very reason why he distanced himself from her. He had lost the war to Elena, and it was now up to him to rebuild from the debris that was his empire.

It was now over.

Elena was awaiting trial even though she still didn't understand why they couldn't just have her arrested, but what did she know about laws.

The public had shifted their focus away from Christian and GEH. Though, they still made the news on a daily basis with how their fairing after enduring a full-scale destruction, but Christian wasn't making any more entertainment news front page.

Anastasia should not be worrying her ass off about Christian, nonetheless, she still was.

And, she was restless over it.

Tossing and turning in her bed, she finally gave in and peaked at the clock.

It was just after one.

…

Taylor and Gail had both retired to their quarters. They had been dismissed early just like most of the days since Christian eased out of intense therapy. The therapy only addressed and solved the issues he had with himself. He had finally got out of the mindset that Elena had deeply engrained in him, but he still had trouble accepting the fact that he had a hand in his own destruction in pushing Anastasia away. He did realize that early on but he had believed that she wouldn't want to be involved in his drama.

And now, he finally understood just how much Elena had affected him and corrupted him. He never should've assumed anything and acted on the assumption. Even if he thought Anastasia wouldn't want to be dragged through his drama with him, he had forgot the fact that his will would always bring her back to the spotlight if something happened to him.

He was half certain that the stunt his lawyers pulled was probably illegal if found out, but at least he didn't lose _everything_.

Sawyer already went home for the night and there was no one moving about in the penthouse other than the security feed recording the activities. He was the only one that wasn't asleep.

It was past midnight. Taylor would either be sleeping with Gail, or they would be doing something else. He shuddered at the mental image that he couldn't get out of his mind, the stuff that he had witnessed in Taiwan was just too graphic and authentic. Still, he knew it'd only be worse if they were doing things he and Anastasia did.

Burt had told him that Anastasia had sued Elena on his behalf. He was grateful for the action. However, with everything that was going on from basically selling his company to Rodriguez and now avoiding Anastasia, once again.

Flynn had urged him to contact her but he refused. He believed that it wasn't Elena's influence but his own belief that his lack of response had pushed her away. Also, he'd hate to see her only to be informed that he was with someone else.

It was his insecurities creeping in on him, and Flynn had explicitly pointed that fact out but he still refused to accept the fact. There was still something stopping him from reaching out. Maybe it was the fact that Anastasia was also pretty silent but that only contributed very little to his overall denial.

His therapist had deduced that it was the guilt and shame that he was feeling over the entire debacle that was stopping him from reconnecting with Anastasia, but Flynn didn't voice this theory to his patient. A part of him was convinced that Christian needed to come to this conclusion himself, instead of being told so.

Christian sighed and paced around the penthouse, when he refocused on his surroundings, he had found himself before his triangle piano. He ran his fingers over the smoothly polished and well-maintained surface courtesy to Gail. The exterior was shiny under the lights from the street outside of the building.

He sat down on the bench and lifted the cover slowly. It hit the end with a light thud that rang throughout the penthouse. For the first time, he came to the realization that his house was eerily quiet at night.

Perhaps, it was because there were no thoughts or night terrors running through his mind that was keeping him up at night and making feel agitated all the time. He had never thought of this place as a quiet place because his thoughts were always too loud. But tonight, with his head cleared and failed attempts to fall asleep, he took in the silence.

The space had made it eery but he brushed that feeling off as anxiety, after all today would be the Fourth of July, and the only thought that he was trying to suppress was whether Anastasia would acknowledge this day in anyway shape or form. He didn't even know if he should just use this as a chance to actually man-up and reach out to her. He just had to prepare himself for her rejection.

He lifted his hands and placed them on to the keys at the center. Normally, he'd never think about what he would play, he would just turn what he was feeling into music, but tonight, he had no idea what he was feeling and he didn't know what he should play. He only knew so many pieces with its names, and he usually would just mix everything up or make something up for himself just to let himself immerse in the notes.

When he pressed down on the keys, he was suddenly reminded of the third movement of _Suite bergamasque_ by Debussy. He didn't think too much before his fingers started to hit all the right keys letting the tune _Clair de Lune_ float through the empty floor. He wasn't particular with what he classical music he was playing but it had been a while since he played this piece deliberately; it was his favorite after he learnt how to play the piano.

His mind was cleared and all he could do was let his fingers run over the ivory keys that produced the most beautiful sound that he had heard in a long time. He had never felt so liberated and never felt that the piano could compose anything enjoyable. Before now playing the piano was only a coping mechanism for him, but now he had felt the true attraction to this instrument.

Maybe, just maybe, all of this that had happened to him in the past year had helped him see the world in a different light. Perhaps, his life wasn't just black and white, and occasionally gray. The intense therapy had helped but his increasing acceptance of his life in general could feasibly be the deeper reason why he hadn't gave out.

Too engrossed in his playing as he played the movement in repeat and other music that came to his mind one after another, he had failed to notice that he had an audience.

…

Anastasia couldn't take this anymore, she had to do something about the weird feeling that she was having. The thoughts just couldn't get out of her mind. The worry she was feeling for Christian at the moment was just too strong to be ignored. It could be all the self-talks about her being too forward with him before his birthday, or because she had upset him on his birthday. Either way, something was off, and this time she knew just where to look.

She had to head to Escala and see Christian in person.

She wasn't going to let herself chicken out of seeing him on their anniversary.

Regardless of her spiteful part, she wasn't going to think too much about how he would react and how their relationship would pan out until she saw him in person. She wasn't going to make the same mistake she had made all those years ago, and if he didn't want to see her any more, she was going to seek out the closure that she deserved from him.

Hopping out of bed, she quickly changed into a casual outfit and quietly whistled for Taco as she stepped out of her room with her phone acting as a torch. Taco didn't even blink at the call, he simply opened his eyes at her and stared at her incredulously as if asking her if she was out of her mind.

"Taco," Anastasia whispered with urgency, and this time Taco picked up his head.

She sighed and groaned lightly. She could hear Ethan snoring from down the hall, _man that man is loud._

"Come on, boy," she pleaded but Taco only whimpered in response, and that was enough to soften Anastasia's heart.

She rushed over to the dog and caressed his head, she felt beneath his ears and then touched his giant nose. They all felt normal.

"Are you feeling unwell?" She asked him. He flipped onto his back so she could massage his stomach. "Hey! That's not what I'm doing!" She protested. "Get up, buddy, we're going to Christian's," she announced, then she got up and went for his leash and collar.

Taco finally stood up. He shook his ears as if to shake off the sleepiness. He usually was up and about the moment he heard that they were heading out or when someone touched his leash, but tonight, he felt a little disoriented. Anastasia didn't know whether to be concerned or entertained by his bewilderment.

She had meetings all day today and she had no idea what prompted her to make the decision of visiting Escala in the middle of the night. She just knew she would be sleeping through the meetings with her eyes wide open.

"Shh, Taco, you gotta be quiet, yeah? Ethan is still sleeping," Anastasia crouched down after attaching the leach to the collar. It had been unprecedentedly easy for her to put the gears on him, which just further proved how abnormal his behavior had been.

She would be more concerned and alarmed about it if she wasn't in such a rush.

"Okay, let's go," she stuffed her keys and phone into her pocket, and picked up Taco's leash. Twisting the door knob as quietly as possible, she slipped out of the apartment.

Taco didn't rush out of the door like he usually would, in fact, he wasn't even the first one out. After much prompting and tugging from Anastasia, he finally relented and accepted the fact that they were going out on a late night stroll. Or more like an early morning stroll; it was before dawn. When he saw that they were heading toward the garage, he was feeling much better.

"Get in, baby boy," Anastasia crooned as she secured the leash around the head rest of the backseat and buckled him in. He settled in and laid down ready to resume his sleep. He had no idea what she had in mind and he didn't get a single word she said to him earlier, he didn't even hear the keyword Christian.

She sighed when she slammed the door behind her. The car ride to Escala had been unusually quiet and long. Taco wasn't fussy and he barely moved from his position. She knew he was feeling unwell and weak, and he had only been taking the antibiotic pill for the third time this evening after dinner where she had to shove it down his throat and force it to him.

The vet told her not to worry about it and just observe how he was for the next couple of days, he should have a speedy recovery. It was just an infection, nothing serious and she did plan on sending him back to Christian on the day of their anniversary whether she saw him or not.

…

He hadn't been alone in this room for quite a while. He was becoming more and more conscious of his surrounding but he had brushed it off as the emptiness of this penthouse. At worst, it could be Taylor or Gail getting up in the middle of the night moving about.

It got to the point that the chilliness made him shiver when he finally stopped playing and glanced around.

His eyes widened when they landed on the figure standing at the entryway staring back at him.

It appeared like she had been there for a while now.

…

Anastasia stood in the garage. She knew there were cameras around her but the eeriness couldn't escape her senses. The cameras in the penthouse were the ones that only record with no one to monitor.

Forcing her fears away, she opened the backseat to let Taco out. He did so, with heavy reluctance.

She followed Taco to the elevator. As she stood there and wait for it to arrive, she took in a deep breath, it would be the last chance for her to back out and change her mind. Still, she couldn't persuade herself to stop her paranoia. The more she stood there and thought about what she was doing, the more she was convinced that something bad was going to happen; or it was already happening. Taco was already sitting before the elevator waiting impatiently having finally realized where they were heading. He was oblivious to Anastasia's apprehension, as usual.

The door to the lift slid open gradually, and Anastasia almost thought she was going to have a panic attack with the rapid speed her heart was beating. Taco bounded in like his usual self and stood in the center of the box with his tail wagging from left to right. His owner's feelings were slightly more complicated.

She released the leash to its full length and allowed it to dangle in between her and Taco as she leaned back against the railing. The code was still the same as she had remembered but that didn't help reassure her. She still felt like she was intruding and that she wasn't welcomed to the place she once called home.

Guess her reluctance to commit fully to this relationship had came back to bite her in the ass. She was still 'banished' from the East Coast because she sold everything to help Christian, albeit making very little difference as the larger sum was covered by José. She still had to start over even though they didn't end on bad terms.

The situation she was avoiding still happened to her despite her efforts to avoid them.

Anastasia realized that she had been wrong at the very beginning. She had been wrong about Christian and what he was expecting from her in a relationship. She had been utterly wrong about what she wanted and what she feared the most.

If she never came up with that hideous deal that night under the beautiful fireworks of the Fourth of July celebration, perhaps none of them would end up like they had been fighting the war that they saw coming and still lost.

It was absurd.

She was preposterous.

And, this entire fiasco was pointless and nonsensical.

The ding of the elevator did nothing to slow down her running thoughts. The one time she wanted something to distract her or bring her out of her musings, it didn't happen. The lift jolted to a stop and she numbly stepped out of it. Entering the foyer robotically as she glanced around.

The light in the foyer was still dimly lit but everywhere else was dark. Or so she thought everywhere

Taco tugged on the leash with much less power than he usually would use since he was still feeling sick but the idea of sniffing around and playing was more appealing to him, and it had successfully overrode his illness.

Anastasia followed him blindly in the direction that she knew was the kitchen. She rolled her eyes, of course that daft dog would be heading to the kitchen upon first entry. Guess, the infection didn't make him lose his appetite one bit.

The kitchen island was alit with the lantern installed above and the rest of the counter was just as she remembered. She looked around wondering why the lights were turned on.

Then, as if she was watching a movie. Her eyes snapped to the middle of the huge island top.

Envelopes.

Christian never used envelopes. He would use manila folders because all of his documents were A4 sized. There was nothing that would require him to fold papers into an envelope. He didn't even use one when he gifted Gail and her sister the tickets to some concert or whatever show that she had been dying to go—he straight up shoved the tickets in her hands. It was a comedic moment for Anastasia to witness.

She walked over and spread the cases out—they weren't in a neat stack to begin with. There were names on each one and there were only five of them.

The one addressed to Taylor was on top and then it was the one to her. Then, one for his parents and siblings, and the last one, much to her surprise, was for Kate.

She unhooked Taco's leash and picked up the one for her. Taco went scouting the penthouse like he did every time he came over with his nose stuck to the ground. Anastasia often worry that he would run into furnitures and hurt himself with the way he was oinking around like a pig; funnily, he did a few times but he wasn't hurt.

Her gut feeling had already told her that she was on a tight schedule, she just didn't know where the fire was.

And now, her stomach had dropped to the pit as she took out a single piece of paper. With one addressed to Kate, she could only imagine that they were well thought out and he was simply executing his plan.

Her hands began to shake and she had no idea why until she started to read the words. She didn't even know what was ahead of her but her intuition was enough to install the fear in her. She just knew that it was nothing good.

She suspected that he had been abducted or threatened but she quickly pushed that thought away, telling herself that it was impossible. No one was a threat to him.

Unless…

Anastasia blocked out all of the scenarios in her mind as she really read the words.

_Dear Ana,_

_I know I haven't done a good job at showing you my genuine feelings, which gave you the false impression that our relationship is truly based on a contract despite it being in shreds. It's coward of me to tell you this through a letter, but I just need you to know that I am in love with you since before I asked you to hangout for the first time at Pike Place Market and I have only told you that a handful of times which can hardly count as making an effort. I don't want to drag you down so I didn't fight hard for you or offer any alternatives when you moved to Maryland and I fabricated that last minute business trip to London because I didn't want to see you leave with all the luggages. It feels like you've walked out on me._

_I had visited you in Baltimore only a handful of times after that Christmas. It's not because I don't want to see you because I do, I miss you terribly. But, I've come to realize after visiting you so frequently prior to the New Year, it is getting harder and harder for me to leave each time I visit. You don't come to Seattle often and when you do, Kate and Mia are always taking up most of your already scarce free time and I can see that you're enjoying her company. I wanted you all to myself but I know that you'd want to spend some time with your friends too._

_I gave you Taco in hopes that you'd remember me and I selfishly think that this dog could represent a piece of me to stay in your life longer than I did…_

She didn't even have to reach the bottom or read a line further to know that her suspicion had been confirmed. She looked up from the letter and looked around the empty penthouse brainstorming all the places that he could've been, it was then the barking of Taco tuned into her ear.

Anastasia quickly tossed the items in her hands back to the table and tore open the rest of the letters. All of them appeared like they were well written and planned out, it didn't look like it was something he had written under pressure or on the spot.

It had to be something that he had been brewing.

But, how could this thought ever enter his mind without being dismissed by John?

The letters didn't make sense to her and she could only suspect that they were written during his darkest times.

…

Christian stepped up onto the stool.

He glared at the barrel pointing in his direction.

The gun clicked.

He placed his head through the hoop.

Then, suddenly there were footsteps paddling from down the hall. The sound entered through the crack as the soundproof door was left ajar.

The gun disappeared along with the woman into the dark corner and out of sight.

He planned to use this temporary distraction as his escape and preferably attack her using momentary scare.

The door was busted open sooner than they both had anticipated and his foot slipped.

…

Taco barked again. He sounded a little hoarse and she knew it was taking him a lot of effort to

She followed his barks and raced upstairs finding herself standing at the entrance of the playroom.

"Of course it's here," she muttered to herself as she busted the door open only to realize that Taco had already broken it when he tried to get in.

When she got in, she nearly fainted at the sight in front of her but she was glad that her medical training didn't fail her.

Taco was whimpering and barking softly around Christian's body hanging from the noose and from the look on his face, there was a faint trace of surprise, so she deduced that Taco's barging in had scared him to loose balance leading to the fall of the chair beneath him.

This was the place where all the pain, trouble and charade started.

"Taylor!" Anastasia screamed in the top of her lungs. It was a futile attempt, and she knew it because the staff quarters were so far down the hall and away from this room, and she knew for a fact that Taylor was asleep.

With no time to wait for help and back up, Anastasia picked up the fallen stool and placed it back under his dangling feet.

By the tiny swings of his body, she could only deduce that he had kicked off the stool only seconds ago.

It meant one thing.

She still had hope.

Anastasia didn't dare look up at his face. One glance was enough to make her remember this forever. It would haunt her for the rest of her life even if he made it through. She knew he only just entered the unconscious state.

She wrapped her arms around his legs and attempted to lift him so the noose could loosen around his neck, or at least release some pressure from the neck. There was nothing she could do until Taylor came over because she wasn't high enough to cut the ropes.

"Taco, go get Taylor," Anastasia cried a plead to the hopeless dog.

It didn't understand her but she prayed that he was at least sensitive to the name Taylor like he was with hers and Christian's name.

"Taco, Taylor," she implored once again just like when she was trying to get him to find Christian.

Taco tilted his head. He was listening to her and the name had rang a bell for him.

"Taylor, where is him?"

Taco's head tilted even more.

"Taco, Taylor. Go find Taylor."

The dog trotted to the door but turned back when Anastasia continued to encourage him in different words.

"Taylor, Taco. Where's Taylor?"

As if something clicked, Taco sprinted out of the room and sniffed along the floor until he reached the staff quarter.

He scratched on the door lightly and barked once.

Anastasia heard the bark and she wasn't sure if it was him telling her that he had arrived before Taylor's door or he was barking for Taylor.

But, she had no time to decipher the meaning behind that single bark because she knew she was running out of time. Christian had already suffered a few damages to his larynx and pharynx and trachea to some degree, and if someone didn't cut the ropes loose around his neck, he would be suffering from permanent damages.

The seconds ticked by and she knew it would only be a matter of seconds before he slip further into unconsciousness.

She had to do something but she couldn't let go of him.

She was aware of how useless her actions were at the moment but it was at least better than leaving him hung with his full body weight pressing against his throat. The rope had already tightened around his neck and the stool would do nothing to help his situation; it would make matters worse if it was kicked off again.

Taylor busted into the room right after Taco.

When Taco entered Anastasia almost gave up hope that he would be like his usual self and come back without the person following. Now that Taylor was here, she knew there was hope now.

Gail appeared behind him and she gasped aloud. Anastasia glanced at her sympathetically but that wasn't her focus anymore. She needed help, desperately.

"Call Sawyer and 911," Taylor instructed. Anastasia was glad that at least someone was in the right mind to act accordingly. She didn't even think about dialing 911 in her stupefied state.

But now wasn't the time to berate herself. She could do that later.

"Hold on to him for a little longer, I'm going to lower the grid."

_What?_

Anastasia thought to herself but did as instructed. She truly was at lost because this was only the second time that she had entered this room. The only other time was when Christian showed her this room after telling her about his secret lifestyle. She had no idea what he had in here and what was for what, because he was very adamant about bringing her inside. Not for her lack of trying but he just didn't want to play with her in a room that would remind him of the fucked up life, as he called it. She never fully understood why they couldn't come in here but he would always take the toys out and play in his room.

She never questioned his decision, though, because she didn't want to push him.

At one point, he had even voiced his thought of dismantling the entire room. However, that was before he was told that she had applied to Maryland.

Anastasia suddenly felt his knees hitting her square on her forehead, and that brought her out of her thoughts as she helped lower him to the ground. The grid could only come down so much but at least Taylor was tall enough to reach the carabiner.

Out of nowhere, Taylor produced a knife and chopped down the rope and caught Christian's just in time before his head hit the ground. Anastasia quickly unfastened the noose around his neck and felt for the damage around his neck. The knife came from one of the many chest drawers, it was a last resort for emergencies for when a knot was incorrectly done that Christian couldn't untie it.

Her brief medical examination was cut short by her sudden realization that Christian had no pulse and no signs of breathing. She had observed the movement of his chest just like she was trained to do in her first aid courses, and it wasn't going up and down.

_Don't panic, Ana._

She chanted the three words in her mind in repeat like a mantra as she got to work.

"Taylor, call Airlift Northwest."

Anastasia was surprised that she could even think clearly and realize that it would be much faster and a shorter route to the rooftop than to the ground. So, instead of using an ambulance, it would be so much better to use a helicopter.

Besides, she knew the people at the airlift department, she was sure that they could give her a discount or make her an exception by coming over.

Taylor immediately got to work as Anastasia began CPR for Christian.

"Take over when you're done, Taylor." Anastasia instructed in between chest press and mouth-to-mouth breathing.

She was aware of the potential injury the tissues in his neck might've suffered but getting oxygen to circulate in his body was way more important at the moment.

Once Taylor ended the call, he immediately knelt on the other side of Anastasia. She was already sweating and panting as she did her last set of pressing and breathing.

A click turned her head when Taylor took over and she jumped to her feet when she saw a gun pointing in their direction and Elena moving nearer and nearer.

* * *

**Thank you all so much for the continuous support! **

**X**


	33. Road To Recovery

_**Road to Recovery**_

"Elena," Anastasia positioned her body before the two men on the ground and slowly lifted both of her arms in surrender. She would've laughed at herself for making such a stupid move but she couldn't think straight.

"Move out of the way and put your arms down, you look hideous."

Anastasia dropped her arms but she didn't move an inch. Elena tutted and lifted her finger before the trigger and held the gun tighter. Anastasia knew nothing about guns and how they worked so she had no idea if the way Elena was holding it had presented all of the weaknesses.

She was faintly aware of Taylor calling her name trying to get her attention so he could take over but she didn't dare move her eyes away from Elena.

Gail had left the room to maintain contact with Sawyer and the paramedics.

"What are you doing?" Anastasia had a habit of asking the most stupid and useless question at the most crucial time, and this was just demonstrating her inexperience. She tried to quake her mind to come up with something more useful but she just couldn't get her brain to work.

She drew up blank, again.

She felt more useless and helpless than ever.

She was only determined to save Christian but she had no idea how.

"What do you think I'm doing, idiot girl? I am pointing a gun at you, aren't I?" Elena taunted.

"You- you want to kill me?"

"It's not you that I want dead but you're always in the way, so might as well just get rid of you first?"

"Don't you have a court hearing?"

"It's today, I know. I'm fully aware of the charges that you've pressed on me," Elena smirked deviously at Anastasia who still appeared dumbfounded. She just couldn't find her brain anywhere for the life of her.

It was like her IQ had shrunk into its shell under shock. She felt more than stupefied.

"Why do you want Christian dead?"

"I wasn't going to kill him but he left me with no other choice."

"He left you with no choice?" Anastasia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Do you need a hearing aid, slut?"

"No," Anastasia could kick herself for even answering the question to entertain the old bitch. "Why- what did he do to you?"

"What didn't he do to me?" Elena shrieked. "I taught him everything! I helped him when he was out of line, and I educated him to who he was now! He should be thankful of _me_, and yet, the moment you come into the picture out of the blue, he suddenly started to doubt me. I've always wanted what's best for him."

"So, why do you have to kill him?"

"He won't listen to me."

"What did you want him to do?"

"He is supposed to be there for me when I'm going through my darkest time, just like I did to him, yet he turned me down."

"Is this because of the salons?" Anastasia was growing more and more confused, and if she was a bit more conscious of everything she would've laughed at her statement.

"Not only that! If he didn't want to invest, he could've gave me some money that I desperately need. He just tossed me away and tossed his money away."

"They weren't your money."

"You don't know the relationship that we have, you mousy little skank. I don't even know why I'm wasting my time here explaining it to you. You're just a straight-up hustler."

"Then maybe you should enlighten me," she had heard and read from fiction stories and movies that she should keep the attacker talking when she was under circumstances like this.

"It doesn't matter whether you understand or not because you won't be seeing tomorrow."

Anastasia frowned.

Footsteps resonated outside of the room and Anastasia thought Elena would panic but she saw nothing of that sort in her eyes. Her eyes only narrowed into a slit and her hold on the gun tighter.

Anastasia risked a glance at the doorway but movement from Elena had her attention once again.

The gun was no longer pointing at her, it was now directed at Christian on the floor behind her. Elena had moved so that she was now at an open angle where she could see the duo point blank.

The pounding of several sets of footsteps got louder and she could see that Elena was getting tenser.

When the door busted open for the fourth time tonight almost throwing it off of the hinges completely as it flung back and forth, Elena's fingers shook and pressed on the trigger.

On instinct, Anastasia dove side ways for Christian and Taylor attempting to cover them from the flying bullet, intercepting the bullet on its path to its target.

She landed on top of Christian's thighs and then she knew nothing more.

Apparently, the gun Elena was holding wasn't the only one that fired. At the door, with one hand shielding Gail back, he was the only other person with a gun in his hand. His eyes immediately landed on Anastasia and his face softened.

He was a millisecond too late.

His gun went off the same time as Elena's and even though his bullet struck her skull and he was certain that she died on the spot but it still didn't prevent Anastasia from laying in her own pool of blood.

The crash jolted Christian out of his unconsciousness. His eyes snapped open, almost throwing Taylor off of his ass. Taylor was about to talk to him when he lifted his head all of a sudden, nearly knocking into Taylor's face.

The horror that swirled in his orbs as he collapsed back down was one that Taylor could never forget. Nor the sight before him. He knew what Christian had seen in that split second would be the trauma that hurt him and affected him the most.

Laying limp in his lap was Anastasia, her shirt soaked in blood and there were more oozing out. She was bleeding out.

That was the very last thing he had seen before people wearing uniforms surrounded them.

Anastasia was shot in the chest and it must be near the heart because more and more blood would leak out with each pump of the heart. The heart beat become weaker with each beat, it was like all of the blood from her circulation had been soaked up by her clothes and the volume inside her body was decreasing.

Her face was becoming paler. The more blood she lost the shallower her breathing had been. When she was lifted onto the stretcher, only more blood came out of her. She was losing blood in rapid speed, and her body was going to shut down.

When she called the paramedics and the helicopter, she was doing this for Christian just in case she ran out of time but now, they were loading her up on to the chopper instead of the man beneath her, also damped with her blood.

His eyes were nearly popping out of its sockets and he knew he had trouble making sounds at the moment but that didn't stop his mind from running hundred of miles a second as the scene unfolded before him. He couldn't move, he couldn't even lift his finger even if he wanted to. It had taken all of his remaining energy to jolt up straight when he was first resurrected.

All he could do was lay in the exact same spot and watch her lifeless body being carried out of the room in utter despair. He could only feel his clothes soaking clean the remainder of the blood that was on the floor next to him.

It was still lukewarm. It was the worst feeling he had ever felt, even worse than when the whole world found out his playroom and his peculiar—or perhaps, singular—taste in woman.

His mind was still stagnated on what he had just witnessed when he felt poking and shadows hovering over him. That was when he had noticed another group of paramedics around him 'feeling him up'. He wanted to protest about being touched but in his current state, all he could do was lay there like a puppet and being carried around like a stuff animal.

He had never felt so out of control.

Sawyer had went with Anastasia to the hospital and Taylor remained behind. Gail appeared by the door and took in the scene before her.

It was horrific.

That didn't even begin to cover what she was witnessing.

She had seen Anastasia being carried out to the foyer when she led the police and FBI agents inside.

One of the agents nodded at Sawyer and Taylor indicating that they would take over and the detectives went snooping around. Their attention was on Elena's corpse upon first entry.

It was a clean shot.

Too clean that the bitch didn't even suffer.

Sawyer sniped at her a little too professionally.

The detectives were going to get a statement from everyone only to realize that the agents weren't on board with the idea as well as the fact that witnesses had already left the scene since they needed to be examined.

Both victims were severely harmed.

One was on the verge of dying and was already on the way to the hospital via airlift.

The second one was now en route to the same hospital in an ambulance.

…

In Northwest Hospital, the doctors and nurses in the ER were informed of two important patients coming in. Both were reported to be in critical condition.

Several doctors were summoned and they were the best in this night shift. They were informed that the two patients were high profile persons, and should be treated with utmost urgency.

…

"We will need statements from Mr Grey and Dr Steele," the officer from the Seattle Police Department said to Taylor and Sawyer after they both gave their statements.

"We understand that," Taylor took the initiative to answer as he could see that Sawyer was already seething with impatience and vexation at the two boneheaded detectives from the Seattle PD. "But, currently, none of them are in any fit state to conduct an interview. Not to mention the psychological factors."

Even Taylor's patience was wearing thin at the insistence of giving them a call as soon as one of them wakes up.

With that promise made, they finally made their way out of the hospital.

Just when the two of them thought they were done with harassments for the night, Barney, Welch and Burt walked in.

Thankfully they weren't dressed in pajamas because all three of them looked like they had literally just rolled out of bed, donned a jacket and off they went.

"Where is Sam?" Taylor rolled his eyes at them.

"He hasn't been informed, yet." One of them said.

"What the hell are you three doing here when the useful one should be the head of PR," Taylor exclaimed, he's finally had enough. Gail wasn't here to offer him any comfort because she was back home packing for Christian and Anastasia and taking care of Taco.

"Just to see how much we've failed the both of them," Welch nodded at the exit of the waiting room.

Christian was taken to get X-Ray and other scans done to see the damage. He had been lucky that his damage wasn't too severe that it would leave a permanent scar; at least, that was what had been deduced so far.

Anastasia on the other hand hadn't been so lucky. She was wheeled straight into the ER and placed under the knife.

"Did you guys inform anyone that matters?" Sawyer snapped as Taylor rubbed his face tiredly.

"We've got a bunch of morons here," Taylor concurred with Sawyer.

Barney was the first to act. He nudged Burt on the side.

"Who is Ana's next of kin?"

"She doesn't have one. Just call her parents."

"What about Mr Grey?"

"His next of kin is Ana," Burt gave him a pointed look. "Welch can give his family a call."

As the two of them made the necessary phone calls in the corridor, a doctor walked into the room, grim faced.

"Family of Anastasia Steele?"

"They haven't arrived yet, but what's the verdict? I am her personal bodyguard," Sawyer jumped to his feet and introduced himself, Taylor stood by his side and Burt listened from his spot.

"We have successfully located the bullet. It stopped just an inch next to the aorta. It travelled inside the body. She is very lucky that it didn't struck any part of the organs, just grazed a little bit of the lung tissue."

"How is she?"

"She has lost a lot of blood, and we will need to find a match. Right now, the blood from storage isn't enough."

All the men in the room nodded eagerly.

"She is currently in the ICU and will be there for a few days until more blood has been transfused. She has flatlined two times due to anemia. She will have to return to the operation room for further inspection of the wound."

"Can you relay the information in detail to her relatives again once they arrive in the morning?" Sawyer requested just like Taylor had in mind.

"Certainly," the doctor backed out of the waiting room, nearly bumping into Elliot and Mia who rushed in in their PJs.

"What happened?" Elliot demanded. All eyes turned to Welch who was responsible of informing Grey's family.

"I didn't tell them over the phone," Welch admitted.

"Where's Ana?" Mia asked rubbing her eyes trying to rid the sleepiness.

"Ana's in the ICU," Sawyer answered bluntly.

"ICU?" Elliot spluttered out.

"I don't know all of the details that occurred because I was woken up by Taco and Ana's yell. I thought I dreamed of Ana's voice but she really did scream for me, it wasn't until Taco scratching at my door." He was the first one to arrive at the scene out of the five men in the room.

"What are you talking about, Taylor?" Elliot frowned. "Can't you check the CCTV?"

"There're no cameras in the playroom. I rushed into there only to find Christian… he had hang himself."

Mia gasped, and the next second she went limp in Elliot's arms but he wasn't steady himself either. Burt and Barney immediately went up to steady the duo as Welch pulled the chairs around.

"He's… dead?" Elliot slumped down in the seat defeated.

"Family of Christian Grey?" Another doctor entered with a clipboard in hand before Taylor could utter another syllable.

"I'm his brother," Elliot stood up from his seat with shaky legs. "Is he alive?" He blurted out.

"Yes, he is very much alive," the doctor masked the odd look quickly before it could be detected.

"Can we see him now?" Mia piped up when the doctor brought the clipboard up.

"Uh… yes, but…"

"You can fill us in when we're there," Mia shot up from the seat and wiped her face clean with the tissue she snatched from Barney. She reached for Elliot's hand and pulled him to the door. "Lead the way, Doctor," she gave him a pointed glare.

The room was a large private one with his bed in the center and the machines on either side of him. He was conscious with his eyes open as he darted around the room taking everything in. He wasn't hooked on much machines just one that monitors his blood pressure and oxygen. The former would be removed tomorrow since it was standard procedure for first day inpatients.

There was a clear bruising line formed around his neck, visible and peaking through the open collar of the hospital gown he was in.

"What did you think you were doing?" Elliot blurted out when his eyes landed on the bruises.

"No talking," the nurse at the bed side extracting blood from him warned sternly.

"Christian…" Mia rushed to his side and picked up his other hand that had an IV line attached.

He was too weak to protest when the needle came in sight and all he could react was speed up his heart rate. He was sure that the monitors would be beeping so loud that even Anastasia would be woken up, but he wasn't hooked on a heart rate machine.

He wanted to smooth his hand over Mia's so bad, or ruffle her hair just to annoy her, but he couldn't move. He felt so weak and a little dizzy. He didn't know what happened after that stool fell but he felt like he was now in a body of another man.

Mia was sobbing next to him and her fingers were tracing his neck line, the bruised one, and he couldn't even swat her hands away.

"He's very lucky. The tear in his trachea is very minimal and can make full recovery. His esophagus is bruised with a slight tear so he will have trouble swallowing, and in the meantime, only feed him fluids and liquid food." The Doctor rattled in the background and Elliot was only listening with half a mind.

"Is surgery required?" Taylor asked at the door, none of them had realized that he had followed the trio.

"No, the tear isn't severe enough. There will be swelling in next few days but everything will heal on its own."

"When is my mom getting here, Taylor?" Elliot asked, he had next to zero knowledge about biology, he was only familiar with the genitals and how to use them, not even the reproductive system.

"Any moment now," he replied. Welch had called and confirmed that they were en route from Bellevue with very little car on the streets.

"Why are you drawing blood from him?" Elliot demanded after the nurse took a tube of blood from Christian's arm.

"To test his blood type."

Elliot frowned and Mia also perked up.

"Wait," he called after the nurse who hurried away with her cart but Taylor waved her off and settled Elliot.

"Ana has lost a lot of blood and we need to find a donor that matches her type. They had already taken all of our blood to sample," he explained. When he said all, he meant the men in the waiting room before the siblings bursted through the door.

"Ana? What's happened to her?" Elliot was instantly alerted again. Christian's ears were perked up at the mentioning of her name.

"She was shot." Sawyer supplied, approaching them from down the hall. The rest of the three remained in the private waiting room discussing their next step.

"Shot?" Elliot frowned.

"The results came out," Sawyer told Taylor and the grimace on his face was enough to answer the unasked question.

None of their blood types matched Anastasia's.

"Can they take my blood?" Elliot offered. "Maybe mine can match?"

Without waiting for an answer, he ran off toward the nurse station.

"Mia," he circled back, summoning his sister. "Come with me, you should do a test too."

"What?" Mia rushed out of the room to catch up with Elliot since she barely understood a word he had said before he took off again. "What are you doing? We should be with Christian until mom gets here."

"We will but we have to do this for Ana."

"Do what?" Mia was anxious for their parents to come to offer her some assurance that her brother would be okay. She wanted Grace to listen to the verdict from the doctor.

"Ana's lost too much blood and we need to find a match so we can donate blood."

"Ana's lost blood?" Mia repeated dumbfounded. She watched Elliot sat down and a nurse tying his upper arms with a tourniquet and applying an alcohol wipe on his elbow.

"Yes, she has and we are going to help."

"What if mom and dad are already here?"

"Then that's even better. Why do you have to be present anyways."

"I just want to know and I want to be with Christian. I don't even know why he did it."

"Go ask Taylor for details then, because Christian won't be talking for probably at least a week."

Mia stomped her feet but Elliot paid no attention to her. He could understand her need to go back to Christian, after all they were much closer with a deeper connection.

Elliot pulled Mia toward the table and planted her on the stool he just emptied forcibly.

"We'll be done in a minute," the nurse appeased as she repeated the procedure.

…

Carla and Ray received that phone call in the middle of the night but there was no bus available at this time of the day. So they jumped into their car and head off.

Barney, the guy who called told them to wait for the car but they didn't want to. Ray was a little disoriented but he splashed cold water on his face and rubbed ice cubes all over it just so he could be fitter to drive, he couldn't wait for the car even if it was just a quarter of an hour of time.

They hurried into the emergency department of the hospital and was led to a private waiting room where they saw four other men that they had never met before.

However, they all stood up and approached them like they knew them.

"Mr and Mrs Steele, I'm Barney," the scrawny man among the four extended his hand. They recognized the name as the person who called.

"Luke Sawyer, your daughter's personal security."

"What is going on?" Ray demanded, shaking their hands and subsequently the rest of theirs.

…

"Suicide by hanging?" Carrick exclaimed loudly, attracting the entire hallway's attention.

"What are the injuries?" Grace whispered, she could barely support her own wait if not for Taylor and Carrick's physical support.

The nurse in the room paged the doctor and he appeared almost immediately as if he was just outside the hospital room waiting to be summoned. He repeated everything he had told Elliot but added a few more details once he recognized Grace.

"Mom, dad," Mia got their attention after the doctor left the room. Now that Grace was here and had heard the diagnostics from the doctor about her brother, she was less worried and what Elliot had told her had begin to sink into her. "Can you go get your blood sampled?"

"Why?"

"We need to find a donor for Ana."

"What happened to Ana?" Grace gasped, running her hand over Christian's head, annoying the fuck out of him but he couldn't do anything about it. He was still wide awake, and he probably wouldn't fall asleep until everyone had left the room and him in peace.

With people constantly talking about Anastasia around him, there was no way that he would go to sleep. He wanted to be up-to-date about her condition, too. Grace didn't work in this hospital so she had to follow procedure and couldn't get information about Anastasia.

"She was shot and she lost a lot of blood."

"Oh dear," Grace cried.

"What exactly happened?" Carrick demanded.

…

"I was woken up by Ana and Taco and rushed into the room to find Christian hanging from the roof. Ana was at his feet hugging his legs trying to relief some pressure from his neck. I didn't notice anyone in the room but I've got no time to secure the area, I just went to cut his rope. Ana was administering CPR on him and Gail went to call for help. I took over after calling for airlift as Ana requested. Then, Elena appeared from the corner that was shrouded in the dark. She had a gun in her hand and she pointed in our direction.

"I don't think it was her intention to pull the trigger so soon but the sound of Sawyer busting down the door, her hand shook and her finger just pulled the trigger. Ana covered us and got shot. Sawyer fired a shot at the same time.

"That's all I know. You'll have to wait for the both of them to fill in the blanks for you."

…

There was no easy way to relay tonight's incidents to the two sets of parents now gathered in the private waiting room.

Taylor relayed the statement that he gave the police and FBI. He got it out in one go and now he was preparing himself for the reaction from the parents. Anastasia's just arrived not long ago, probably right after Christian's went to get their blood sampled.

"She needs blood," Ray repeated bleakly staring ahead of him hollowly.

"Our blood aren't the matching type," Carla reminded. "We've got it tested before, remember? When she came home with those tests a few years back. I think she's still in high school and they were learning about it and she asked her biology teacher for the remainder of those… droplets."

"Yeah," Ray nodded in remembrance. He knew it then and there that his daughter would not be going down the path that he and her mother had wished for her to go. He still had a slight bit of hope that she might change her mind about becoming a doctor or medical researcher, but that soon vanished when she came home telling them that she declared her major in medicine. "Who else has donated?"

"Everyone from the Greys and all five of us," Taylor replied.

"Where is she now?" Carla asked but she knew that they wouldn't be able to see her.

"She's currently in the ICU, they're waiting for more blood transfusion before the surgery."

"Didn't she just come out of one?" Carla frowned but Ray already knew they had taken the bullet out but didn't check for fragments.

"They've stopped the bleeding at the moment but the doctors don't want to risk her losing more blood by attempting to clear the wound. They have done all the necessary scans and standard procedures to prepare her for operation to close the wound properly. The stitches right now are temporary," Sawyer informed having just come back from checking on Anastasia.

Ray nodded, accepting the truth. He knew it would do them no good if he panicked and lashed out at people when he didn't even know the entire situation. He was only informed of how severe the circumstances his daughter was under today. Before then, he had always be assured and reassured that nothing major was going on in her life, and she had just transferred to Seattle.

Anastasia told him that there was a glitch in Christian's company and something that didn't make sense to him about Christian's business, but he didn't question further when his daughter insisted that everything was under control.

In hindsight, he and Carla should've asked more questions and not live under the rock.

…

Christian was on the verge of falling into deep sleep when his door was thrown off of the hinges. At least that was what he though t happened as he jolted awake by the intrusion.

A couple of nurses walked into the room and flipped on the light with a cart.

He was disoriented and had no idea what time it was or who was in the room. He couldn't move his neck as it was fixed inside a cast. When he closed his eyes after seeing all of his family members, he didn't even worry about having nightmares because he couldn't stay awake even if he wanted to.

"Is he asleep?" One whispered and rounded to the head of his bed.

He peaked an eye open and squinted against the bright white light in the room.

Christian stared at the nurse with blurry vision. He didn't know what he was feeling at the moment and he had no idea if he really wanted to go to sleep only to be consumed by his night terrors. He wished Taylor was here.

"What's going on?" Taylor entered moments later.

_Oh, so he is here._ Christian thought to himself wanting to glare at Taylor for not intercepting the nurses sooner.

Truth was, he thought Taylor had went home.

"I'm his personal security," Taylor explained when both nurses glanced at him questionably. "What are you doing?"

It was nearly four in the morning and Taylor hadn't got a wink of a sleep. Neither did Sawyer, he had been with Anastasia waiting anxiously for updates with her parents. The other three GEH staff members had left with the promise of returning if they received any updates.

"Mr Grey has the same blood type as Dr Steele, and we need his consent to donate blood."

"Is he under the suitable condition to do so?"

"Yes," the other nurse replied. "His antibiotics starts right after we draw blood from him. Right now, he's only on a saline intravenous drip to keep him hydrated."

Taylor nodded.

"Is he able to consent to it or should his next of kin be making this decision?" The other nurse inquired.

"His next of kin is the one currently in need of his blood," Taylor informed and both nurses suddenly connected the dots. "If he is awake, then yes, he can."

"Mr Grey?" The first nurse poked Christian in the arm and then the shoulder until he opened both arms.

"Don't make a sound, Christian," Taylor warned sternly and he was taking pleasure in the fact that he couldn't flip him the bird at the moment but he was sure that Christian would be giving him all kinds of offensive gestures tomorrow once he's recovered his strength.

"If you can understand me, please blink twice, Mr Grey."

Christian stared at her and blinked once slowly. He didn't look like he had registered what he had heard.

"Mr Grey, can you hear me?" The nurse tried again believing that he was conscious.

He twitched his hand wanting to indicate that he had heard her but she didn't see the movement. Taylor stepped closer to the bed and he squeezed Christian's hand.

"Can you hear me?" He asked and got a light squeeze. Taylor looked up and nodded at the nurse. "She's not going to touch you again, so can you blink twice if you can understand me?"

Christian blinked twice and slowly turned his head to stare at the nurse with an unreadable expression.

"The nurse is now going to take your blood," Taylor explained slowly to Christian who's expression morphed into fear. "They need you to donate blood to Ana." That statement did nothing to sooth his fear and spiking heart rate.

His brain registered that he would have to get over his phobia and allow the nurse to draw blood from him before he passed out, but his body couldn't. He was shaking uncontrollably. He couldn't control his muscles and he knew he couldn't retract his arm when the needle came in contact with it but in his mind, he wanted to take back his hand.

"We are going to inject this needle in your arm," one nurse held up a needle that was thicker than the usual one. Christian shuddered at the word but the visual was almost going to make him have a cardiac arrest. "We will be drawing approximately a pint of whole blood from you."

Christian had closed his eyes at this point already.

"Mr Grey, are you okay?"

"He has needle phobia," Taylor explained when he recognized the symptoms as his palms started to sweat, his breathing started to quicken and his heart beat in his rib cage rapidly. "You shouldn't have showed him that," he pointed the needle that the nurse was now hesitant to insert. "He will consent to you taking his blood but you shouldn't have mentioned the process," Taylor chuckled apologetically.

"It's procedure, sir," the nurse explained.

"I understand that, and I'm sure he does, too."

"Okay," the nurse concurred at the underlying message. "Can I still…?" She asked gesturing to the arm that was laid out before her with the disinfectant hovering above the vein.

Taylor nodded his head after checking with Christian.

"It will take less than ten minutes," one of the nurse assured. "Dr Steele is currently in surgery." She informed as the other one inserted the needle.

"Then what is his blood for?" Taylor asked, he could see that Christian was really struggling mentally with all this talk about drawing blood and needles. He knew that the boss must also be curious about his beloved.

"The whole blood will be separated and the recipient will only be receiving the plasma and platelets, the red blood cells are probably going to be discarded or go into storage," the nurse answered as the other one concentrated on the collection of blood in the tube.

Taylor stared at the nurse wondering just how much of what she just spoke was true. Then, his eyes fell onto the name tag at her chest pocket, and he saw that she was the head nurse on duty tonight. Then, she was probably given this task directly from a doctor responsible for Anastasia.

Once the blood was collected, the head nurse took the blood and left leaving the other nurse to attach a pulse oximeter. Taylor watched as the nurse did all the necessary checks after giving a large amount of blood. He saw Christian's contorted face, he was very uncomfortable with someone being in such proximity with him when he couldn't move. Taylor wanted to do something to console but he didn't know how.

He had never been in a situation like this before, either. He only wished one of his siblings were here, or at least Gail. He wasn't trusting his parents so much lately and he didn't believe that they could offer much support with their mouth open and talking; it would only piss him off and achieve nothing to calm his racing heart beat and anxiety for being in the hospital as people prodded him all over the place.

…

Anastasia was finally wheeled out of the ICU after a week with tubes attached to her. The only one that had been taken out was the one for food. Other than that, she still had the oxygen on her nose and a urinary catheter that could be removed once she was allowed larger range of motions.

She was placed in a private suite, and she could only imagine who was behind all this. She had no idea how long she had been unconscious and what had happened in the outside world but she doubted that Christian's reputation was enough to get her a private suite.

Around her stood several familiar faces, including her parents whom she had mixed feelings about seeing.

Still, what she wanted to know the most was what happened after she went into shock.

Although, that had to wait until she was able to speak but for now, she was just going to imagine everything and let her impatience occupy her mind just to ease the boredom and the occasional pain shooting from her chest.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	34. Reunion Interrupted

_**Reunion Interrupted**_

AUGUST 2016

_"Elena," Christian leapt up from the piano stool and twisting his body at the same time. He didn't know how he managed to not injure himself in the process but he was now on his feet before the piano stool._

_"So, you've been practicing," Elena smirked. She sauntered closer, swinging the black leather purse that matched her outfit in her hand as she walked her catwalk. He briefly imagined the ways she could trip over her own feet and slam her botox face flat on his marble floor, but that didn't happen._

_"I have, but that doesn't explain your late night visit." He didn't bother asking how she got in because that really just sounded plain stupid as if he didn't even know the secret hidden entries of his own home; he didn't, truthfully, but he wasn't going to behave like a stupid-ass fool in front of her again. He fell for her tricks once and that was enough._

_He was lucky that he had Anastasia in his corner. She wasn't talking about anyone else when she begged him to promise her to believe that there would always be someone fighting for him in his corner; she was talking about herself._

_She really sacrificed too much for him and he didn't know how he could ever repay her._

_"Do you take a liking in sneaking up to people when they play the piano under the moonlight?" Christian taunted cheekily._

_"I would keep my attitude in check if I were you."_

_"You're not my Domme. You're not anyone to me. I've lost all my respect toward you, so with all due respect, I don't think having an attitude in my own home is such a capital offense."_

_"Oh, I thought you left this property to your precious Anastasia."_

_"I did," he smirked. "So, you have been kept up-to-date about everything."_

_"Yes, which is why we need to talk."_

_"About what?" He stuffed his hands into his pockets just to stop himself from fidgeting because he didn't want to admit that he was nervous. He had no protection and no plan B, and his gut feeling told him that this woman before him wasn't here with some pleasant intention._

_And, he had always trusted his intuition to a T._

_"Come," she waved her hand and turned around heading to the kitchen. "Have a seat," she gestured to the stool around the kitchen island. She threw her purse on the table and rounded it so she was opposite of him. She leaned forward, allowing her cleavage on display but Christian wasn't interested._

_"What's so urgent that you'll need to have a conversation with me at midnight?"_

_"I know what today is to you," Elena began, intertwining her hands before her as she attempted to lean in closer but her height was restricting her._

_Christian tilted his head remaining impassive._

_"It's your anniversary with Anastasia."_

_Christian was tempted to correct her and tell her that it was, because they hadn't been in contact for so long and she didn't even come to his birthday party like she said she would. So, he truly believed that she had moved on after sorting through his mess, or she had simply had enough of his dramatic life._

_"I am blacklisted from a lot of social events, courtesy to this Kaetlyn who doesn't know what's best for her as she publish articles after articles of lies."_

_At this point, Christian was really starting to brainstorm who this person could be. First of all, she must be close to Anastasia because she was the only person privy to the information and stories that this reporter published. Secondly, she had to be someone of importance because she needed her article to be influential. Lastly, she—if it was a she, which he was rather certain about in that regard—must be really close to Eamon since she got Kavanagh Media to concur with their opinion and publish their stories. KM was after all a relatively influential media company in Seattle, if not the entire West Coast._

_Therefore, it led him to one person. The mutual friend, Katherine Kavanagh._

_She had been there for him updating him on Anastasia when they weren't on speaking terms courtesy to their stubborn asses. Then, both he and Kate loved Anastasia, which was why they could remain in contact and be friends, if categorized loosely._

_"I don't know anyone with this name, if you're insinuating that I've ruined your reputation," Christian replied calmly, he was fairly certain that his theory was correct. He just needed to verify it._

_"Oh, I know you don't but surely someone that works for you do," she goaded but he gave nothing away. "I need you to help me."_

_"Help you?" Christian scowled. "Um… excuse me, lady, but you have just turned my entire world into shit and now you're asking me for help?"_

_"I told you to keep that attitude in check."_

_"Or what?" He challenged and he knew that was the wrong move because Taylor was asleep and no one was monitoring the security feed._

_"You really haven't learned, have you?" Elena giggled, which was scratchy in his ear but probably a siren in many other fat-ass rich men's ears._

_"There's nothing to learn from you," he rebutted._

_"I thought you would've learned your lesson by now. You've already seen what it's like if you don't listen to me."_

_Elena lifted an eyebrow and he mirrored her expression, which only irritated her more._

_"Fine, we'll do this the hard way then," she huffed and reached into her purse taking out a pen, a few pieces of papers and a few envelopes._

_Christian stared at her in disdain._

_"You're not going to keep up with that look once I show you the real deal," she smirked. For a second, he thought she was trying to pursue the path of a youngster and talk like them but his thoughts were halted in his brain when he saw what she pulled out next._

_A gun._

_"Where the fuck did you get that from?" He demanded loudly hoping he could use his voice to wake and alert Taylor, but he knew that attempt was futile because his quarter was soundproof. He knew that for a fact because he would sure hear what they were doing behind those locked doors if it weren't for the thick soundproof boards._

_"Easy," she crooned and that only made him want to barf._

_He would if he wasn't shaking with fear and anger right now. The gun wasn't even pointed to his head but he knew it would only be a matter of seconds._

_"Now, you'll do what I tell you to."_

_He crossed his arms and glared back at him._

_"You know what guns do, right? So, you better behave and obey me," she barbed._

_He remained mute but that didn't stop her from lifting the gun and admiring it as if it was her most precious possession. Meanwhile, he was just thinking about ways to distract her or get himself a legit reason to move just so he could reach the panic button on the other side of the kitchen island._

_"You will take these things," Elena continued as she shoved the pile that she had taken out before the gun in front of him. "And, you will write to the people that you care about and _love_. This will be your last words."_

_Christian didn't move nor did he blink, he just stared at her challengingly._

_"Oh, Christian, you're still so defiant just like fourteen years ago when we first met," Elena cooed. She slowly raised the gun and pointed to his head. "Now, what do you say?"_

_"Fuck off?" Christian didn't know where his courage came from but he just felt fearless at the moment. He thought he was going to faint when the gun was taken out but when it was pointing at his forehead, he only felt like a man with nothing to lose._

_His properties were left in good hands and his parents could make amendments with his dead body when they wanted to, the only closure that he didn't get was from Anastasia. If he was going to die tonight, that was going to be his dying wish._

_"You and your smart mouth," Elena chuckled darkly. "No, darling, you are going to be a good boy and do as you're told."_

_"Alright," Christian conceded when he took a better look at the barrel. He knew nothing about gun and had never encountered them in such close proximity but he wasn't going to risk his life so soon by getting shot in between the eyes, given that Elena didn't fall on her ass first from the recoil of the gun. He could prolong this for as long as he could, and he prayed that Taylor would hear the commotion and show up._

_"Pick up the pen and start writing. You better not include any of our little encounter in them," she warned in a singing voice. "After you wrote them, we'll talk a bit more and travel down the memory lane for a bit."_

_Elena placed the gun down next to her as she sat down to watch Christian unfold a blank letter, she tapped her perfectly manicured finger nails against the marble counter top as she waited for him to put the tip of the pen to the paper and let the ink run its course._

_"I'm waiting," she clicked her tongue as her fingers continued to drum an irritable beat that resonated in this empty kitchen space._

_Christian finally thought he should probably just get this over with so they could move on to something where he could actually speak. So, he bit his lip and started the first letter._

_It was for Kate._

_He would write to Anastasia last because it was so hard to grasp what he could say to her in such limited word counts. He wasn't sure what to write to her because he didn't believe that tonight would be his last night, but he had to pretend that it was._

_The letter to Kate was short as he wrote about suspecting that it was her behind the published stories that helped him clear his name. Right now, he had very little idea of what the public actually thought of him but at least his business had picked up, so the articles and Kavanagh Media had been a great help._

_Next, he wrote to Taylor. There really was nothing to write about since he couldn't reveal this encounter. Though, as he wrote, he debated whether to include the circumstances that he was currently in because he doubted that Elena would actually read the content. Then again, if she did, he was going to get killed anyways._

_After that was Elliot and Mia. He wrote to them together since he really couldn't come up with anything in the spur of the moment and he still had faith in himself that he could think of a way to escape tonight. So, he kept that brief but he did warn them to not be so hard on their parents if he didn't make it out alive._

_The second last letter was to his parents. He wanted to pour his anger, frustration and blame them for being victimized almost all his life. A part of him had forgiven them simply because he thought the trouble he had caused in his childhood was enough to compensate their mistake. Though, what he couldn't forgive was the fact that they chose Elena over Anastasia. He thought his parents loved her when he first brought her home. He didn't think they would change their mind so quickly, but he had first-hand experience with how manipulative and persuasive Elena could be._

_In the end, he settled on something neutral. He expressed his gratitude toward them and hoped they could make amends with Anastasia. He really wasn't in the mood to compose several death notes with his biggest enemy sitting right across from him telling him just how much of a loser he had been. Her presence was just a constant reminder that he had lost the war to her, and she had played everyone in his family._

_All he could think about at the moment wasn't what he should tell everyone before he faced his death, but how he could get rid of this bitch currently staring at him with disgusting lust and all starry eyed._

_However, all of the 'writer's block' he was suffering from had vanished when he reached Anastasia's letter. For some reason, even if he thought he could see her again and ask for closure in person, he still had too much to say to her._

_They had too many regrets and they shouldn't be living their lives like that, so he needed to set the records straight and assure her that they were going to look past everything and all the foolish decisions they had made in the name of protecting the other. He just wanted to move on with life, preferably with her; but, one could only hope._

_"Are you done?" Elena rolled her eyes and her hand reached for the gun thinking it could speed him up._

_Christian didn't reply. Elena couldn't wait any longer so she stood up and hovered over his shoulder as she read and gagged at the words he had for Anastasia._

_He was bothered by her closeness and invasion of privacy but that wasn't the main concern at the moment. He needed to keep her occupied, in any way possible. So, if she wanted to read what he wanted to say to his beloved, then so be it._

_"Okay, just tell her you love her and that's it. You're not going to spend ages on this letter," Elena reached over wanting to snatch the pen from his grasp but he moved it out of her way. She was getting impatient, and he didn't know if that was a good sign but at least they could move on from their current task. She clearly came with a plan._

_"I thought love is for fool," he gently placed the cap back on the tip and placed the pen down. He then picked up all of the papers, folded them and tucked them into the envelope neatly._

_"They are. So, we're going to go to the place where everything started and you are going to rehash on what you've learned. You will do well to remember them for the rest of your life."_

More like if I made it out alive, _Christian thought to himself but followed Elena up the stairs._

_He knew exactly what she meant by where it all started._

_It was his playroom._

_The only place that represented their lifestyle._

_Well, more like the actual BDSM lifestyle that Elena wasn't technically a part of._

_The lifestyle that she claimed to be in was downright abusive. She was a diehard fan of pushing the limits to the extreme and Christian knew that firsthand._

_"What could possibly be rehashed. The essence is control."_

_"Yes, and look at how you've been doing that so far," Elena judged._

_"I think I've been doing a great job."_

_"No, you haven't," Elena countered good-humoredly which was raising all kinds of red flags for Christian._

_With the gun pointing at his head, there was no way for him to make a detour to the nearest panic button or to rouse Taylor, he had no choice but to follow under the scrutiny of this fake wannabe Barbie girl._

_"Oh, I forgot about something," she jumped suddenly like a lightbulb had went off in her had._

_How he wished a lightbulb could explode with her head at the moment; but, that was all wishful thinking._

_"We need to go downstairs," she declared._

_"I can wait for you in the room," Christian offered, unfazed by that announcement._

_"No, I know you won't behave in there," she made it sound like he would be masturbating to her pictures while she was just down the floor. "Are you going to move or not?" She raised the gun to his head once again after lowering it briefly._

_She had been very careless with that weapon so far and that was what scared him the most._

_He obediently followed her. It wasn't exactly the gun that was scaring him at the moment, more like the person holding the gun. If she wasn't careful, he wasn't sure who would be the one ending up with a bullet in their body; or several if they were lucky. As Elena waved the gun carelessly like she was holding a handkerchief, he was dodging them left and right just to avoid being struck unconscious in the head. Staying close to that gun and keeping a close eye on it could at least prevent it from accidentally firing at his torso._

_"Take a stool," Elena ordered._

_"What?"_

_"Take a stool," she repeated that command with utter impatience that was evident on her ugly face._

_He grabbed one._

_"Good, now follow me."_

_Christian rolled his eyes and followed suit._

_He needed to think fast._

_Before he could do anything with the stool and using it as a weapon, Elena turned around._

_He heaved a sigh mentally. There was nothing he could do under her intense gaze. He could easily out fight her with his strength but that was under the circumstance that she wasn't waving a gun around like a piece of cloth._

_"You are going to collect all the equipment that we'll need for this scene," she walked into the center of the playroom and surveyed it surrounding. She had done it too quickly that Christian couldn't even raise the stool and haul it at her head._

_"Scene?" He humored her with a reaction._

_"Yes," she waved the gun around again showing that her patience was wearing thin. "Get the ball rolling," she urged._

_"What's the rush?" He asked nonchalantly as he placed the chair next to him and sat down on it while Elena still stood in the middle of the room eyeing him._

_"You need to disappear."_

_"Are you going to make a deal with me?"_

_"Oh, I'm not that stupid to think that you'd actually accept one from me."_

_"Well, you do have a gun in your hand right now," he didn't know why he reminded her that but he just felt like being sassy just to get back to being controlled and suppressed by her all those years ago. It wasn't like he could think straight with that gun in her hand anyway, so he gave up on trying to come up with escape routes._

_All of a sudden, he was a fatalist; someone that he never thought he'd be._

_"I do, indeed. However, Jack left me so I'm all on my own now."_

_"Who's Jack?"_

_"Jack Hyde, he's the one that hacked into Anastasia's Instagram account and posted all those pictures. Do you know what I'm talking about?" She taunted with a devious grin that really suited her to a T._

_"Yes, I do, but I don't know about this Jack Hyde. Is he related to Isaac?" He asked innocently but he knew that this would scare her because she stored all of the pornographic pictures under Isaac Hyde, which was a fake name. "Or, is this Jack your computer genius that steal from you and also created that album for you?"_

_"You do know him, don't act dumb. You know him since infancy?"_

_"Infancy? Elena, you come from old money but you surely aren't that old with news. I don't know a single person named Jack."_

_"You two met in Detroit."_

_"Oh, then where is he now?" Christian really couldn't give a rat shit about this person that he presumably knew from childhood, especially from that shit hole he was from._

_"I don't know. That doesn't matter because he's done his job. There is nothing more that he can do for me."_

_"What makes you think he's doing anything for you?"_

_"He is, because he wants you out of this world as well."_

_"And what's the catch? For the both of you to be so passionate and invested in taking me down."_

_"Don't derail me, Christian. I may be blonde but I'm not dumb."_

_"Clearly," Christian nodded with feigned sincerity. "Are you going to tell me more about your grand plan before you take your final step and finish me off?"_

_"No, Jack is all you need to know about. He wants to be known by you. He wants you to know that he has a hand in taking you down."_

_"He's an IT genius, I get it. So what? It's not like I've got anything to lose now, is it?"_

_"Glad that you're able to come to this conclusion. Let's start now."_

_Christian may have this tough exterior in front of Elena when he spoke, but on the inside, he really was beyond shake up. He couldn't have one rational thought and not a single plan had entered his mind. He really was going to just surrender to Elena as he spluttered out sassy, witty remarks just to keep her engaged for as long as possible._

_However, it seemed like his time was up._

"Christian…" Anastasia ran her fingers through his tousled hair. The familiar shampoo scent invaded her nostrils wave after wave faintly as she messed it up even more. His aftershave still smelled like she remembered and on other days when he had to go to the office, she noticed that he was wearing the cologne that she chose for him all those years ago with his signature suit and tie. "Wakey wakey, sleepy head," she crooned when he moaned as she massaged his scalp. He had been staying with her almost the entire time ever since he was discharged from the hospital two weeks ago.

Anastasia grinned when he leaned into her hand but didn't bother to wake up. She still couldn't laugh due to her deep gunshot wound but that didn't stop the people around her from trying to make her laugh. Her tubes were finally removed around the time Christian was discharged, but her movements were still very restricted. She was told that she could be discharged at the end of her fourth week, which should be this week.

"Don't stop, Ana," Christian whined with his eyes closed when Anastasia pulled her hand from his hair. He reached out and snatched it back instinctively.

"Someone needs to page the nurse for me so they can remove the drip," she reminded him. He had been acting like the dutiful boyfriend that he technically wasn't, and he had been the one taking care of her after her drip was removed if she was asleep. He had forbad the nurses from waking her up just so she could stop her own bleeding when he was there to do it for her.

He was requested to coddle her the first time they saw each other properly. Even though that reunion was brief and a little stiff, it was still sweet and very _them_.

_"He's not supposed to make sounds, so he can only text," Taylor spoke before Christian could make a sound with his mouth agape. He stuffed a phone into Christian's hand and sent him a glare._

_Anastasia resisted the urge to giggle knowing that her wound would hurt really bad if she did when she saw Christian attempting to twist his neck so he could glare at Taylor only to be restricted by his cast._

_Sawyer stepped forward and handed Anastasia her phone, her other hand was connected to the IV and antibiotic drip. She could speak but she couldn't type since she still couldn't really move her limbs too much._

_"Hey," she broke the silence first after the they were left alone in the room. "Come have a seat," she nodded at the seat next to her bed ever so slightly with her head. It was nearly unnoticeable but he took the hint. "Come on, I don't bite," she sassed. "I want to be near you." She placed the phone down onto the mattress and reached a hand out to him._

_He took it immediately and took a seat stiffly next to the head of her bed._

_"I would offer you half of this giant hospital bed but I don't think I can move by myself without tearing the stitches at the moment."_

Don't move.

_Christian typed and her phone vibrated. She slowly picked it up and brought it to her line of sight. Her grin widened at his commanding tone._

_"So bossy," she wanted to chuckle but she refrained. "Some things just never change," she teased._

_He was still staring at her and she could tell that there were so much that he wanted to say to her, but since he wasn't allowed to use his voice, he couldn't voice any of them. Clutching his phone tightly in his hand, he wasn't even sure where to begin._

_However, for Anastasia, strangely, all of the doubts about their relationship was tossed away the moment she saw him again. All of the worries and the speculations and every anger and frustration she had was gone, instead it was replaced by pure bliss and felicity when the sight of him came into view. She was just glad to see him up and moving about. She wasn't worried about how they should define their relationship because that wasn't the point here, they could catch up and fill each other in on their lives later, but right now, she just wanted to be near him._

_It was that simple._

_"Stop staring at me," she reached out to pat his hand. She could only move her right arm because moving her left arm would affect the stitches. She was only removed from all of the tubes yesterday and that was when she had felt confident enough to have visitors other than her parents. "Type," she urged, pointing at his phone. "I can read, you know?"_

_He nodded but made no action. He was still staring at her but there were too many emotions swirling in his dark gray orbs for her to decipher._

_She knew it must've been a lot for him. The events that occurred in the past half a year was truly traumatic for someone who already had a traumatic start to life._

_She extended her palm and he placed his hand in hers. Her thumb rubbed the back of his hand caressingly as she tried to ease the nervousness and tenseness from his body. When she brought it up to her lips and placed a light kiss on the back, she heard him gasp. That brought another smile to her face._

_At this moment, she was just happy to see him in one piece with no permanent damage. Nothing else really mattered to her, they could hash out those details later after they were both fully recovered._

_"Are you going to stay with me?"_

I've been discharged

_She glanced at her screen with the new text._

_"What are you going to do now, then?"_

Stay with you

_"Are you serious?" She giggled silently but winced when her stitches got pulled slightly. "I'm fine," she reassured him when his facial expression morphed into concern instantly. "The wound is still too new. I'll be fine."_

I'm sorry

_"About what?" She frowned but when she heard the sigh from him, she knew exactly what he was referring to. "Christian," she called for his attention slowly, "listen," she reached for his hair and he moved his head closer to close the distance. "We're both in the hospital and aren't fully recovered, so there really isn't much to talk about what happened. If you want to, we can just be ourselves and forget about the rest of the world. We are in a pretty private setting anyways," she suggested. "I thought a positive mindset helps speed up recovery," she jested._

_Christian looked pensive as he pondered her little speech. Her voice still sounded weak and fragile but her stance was the completely opposite. The person that Christian was looking at in bed was vibrant with life and cheerful just like he recalled before all of the drama took a toll on her._

_He finally relaxed and he picked up his phone with a devious grin._

Lol

_He said. When Anastasia picked up her phone that had just vibrated with that incoming text, she laughed. Then, her face contorted in pain but it didn't stop her from chortling silently and trying her best to stop her body from shaking._

_She was sporting the widest grin that he had ever seen. It was stretched so wide across her face that he thought it might end up taking up her entire face._

_That made him smile in return and he was tempted to think of more jokes to keep that grin on her face._

_But, they were interrupted._

_Their heads whipped to the door as a hoard of strangers walked in. Leading that crowd was a doctor in their signature white coat. She was a blonde and Christian didn't know her._

_"Addie!" The smile maintained on Anastasia's face, though he could see that it was a different one from earlier. "What are you doing here?"_

_"I transferred." She deadpanned._

_"That fast? I'm told that I was only out for two weeks."_

_"You've just woken up completely, I know because I'm your doctor."_

_"You are?" Anastasia narrowed her eyes. "Are you serious?"_

_"I was here when you were brought in?"_

_"In the middle of the night," Anastasia deadpanned. "What are you doing on the other side of the nation in a hospital in the middle of the night?"_

_"Exchange," Addie shrugged casually._

_"I'll bite," Anastasia quipped lightly. "Who did you bring with you?"_

_"Well…" she began and glanced back at the people currently forming a crowd around her bed. "Once I told everyone that you're awake…"_

_"You've been telling them that I'm in a coma?" Anastasia jibed._

_"Not exactly, just that you're not in the state for visitors."_

_"Oh, so the second that I am you bring a pile of people over?"_

_"Even Adam flew back."_

_"He just never left," Anastasia deadpanned. Adam rolled his eyes at her usual sarcastic remark. "José!" When Addie stepped away from her direct line of sight, she saw the rest of the crew. She wasn't sure who she was referring to exactly because both the father and son was present. "I don't know how to thank you guys for what you've done for me," her eyes darted between the duo. "I hope you're feeling much better, Mr Rodriguez," Anastasia addressed senior._

_"I told you to call me José Sr."_

_Anastasia pursed her lips embarrassed, then she felt movement next to her, that was when she remembered the presence of Christian._

_"Oh my god, I'm sorry," she gasped and then coughed to cover up the pain shooting up through her but that only made it worse. "Guys, this is Christian," she was going to add a title to him but she could tell that everyone in this room knew him so she never bothered._

_"How are you doing, son?" José Sr was the first to greet him._

_"Oh, I forgot to tell you all, he's not allowed to speak so you'll have to wait for his slow-ass to type out a response until I read it out."_

_Anastasia yelped when she felt him pinch her side._

_"Christian, they're my friends," she turned to the man and began to introduce them one after the other. "Addie, my anesthesiologist. _The _best and most trusted," she told him reassuring him and also alluding to the conversation they had playfully a few years back when she said she didn't trust anyone to drug her. "Adam, her brother, and your secret admirer," she jested but also throwing a glare in Adam's direction. "By the way, when are you going to tell me that you've got a sister?" She accused._

_"When will that conversation ever come up, kid? When you're complaining about Frederik or about Candy Crush lady?" He defended himself in a high pitched voice making everyone laugh, even Christian cracked a smile._

_"Yeah, and the rest of the two, I think you know, Christian?" She turned back to her man who was now typing on his phone. He nodded in response to her but he was still typing._

Who's Adam? Who's Frederik and Candy Crush lady? I know the father-son duo but how did you know them?

_The three dots in the bubbles were still shimmering and she could see that he was still typing, so she knew that he wasn't finished with his seventy questions. Sometimes, he was even worse that Kate, she felt like._

_"Adam works in this hospital as a neurologist," she began to answer his questions one by one. "Were you in the OR with me? Don't tell me you've done something to my brain."_

_Adam rolled his eyes._

_"Clearly I'm bothering you," he raised his arms up in surrender and scoffed loudly. "You've had this attitude toward me since the beginning of this year."_

_"Really?" Anastasia deadpanned innocently even though she knew what he said was true._

_"Given that I'm your only source from Denmark, I'd say you're pretty damn bold to act like this."_

_"What news from Copenhagen?" She was suddenly reminded of her project and got all excited all of a sudden. She even suppressed a wince when she accidentally shifted her body due to the enthusiasm she felt when she was reminded of Denmark._

_"Nothing much," Adam shrugged clearly hiding something important._

_"Adam," Anastasia warned. It was a futile attempt. "Fine," she said stubbornly, "I can just check my email and I'll know. Besides, it's Addie that I should thank."_

_"It's me that you should thank. I called her over."_

_"What? You know that I was going to get shot that night?"_

_Both Josés couldn't contain their silent laughters anymore as they bursted out laughing. Their joy was evidently contagious because the entire private suite was soon filled with giggles and chuckles. Christian was shaking his shoulder silently as all of them laughed at Anastasia and Adam's dialogue._

_"Clearly she doesn't speak English," Adam remarked. "I don't know how you two communicated with her but I'll tell you what, _this_ is how she speaks."_

_"She sounded like a native over the phone," José Jr quipped amusedly and Addie giggled._

_"If you're going to laugh at me, Addie, you better work alongside me," Anastasia pointed an offending finger at her but she just swatted away. "Okay, visiting hours are over!" She announced dramatically in an attempt to shoo everyone out. "I need to talk to Christian."_

_"Be careful," Adam sang as he was ushered out by Addie, or more like shoved out of the door. The rest of the two lingered a little in the room._

_"We'll catch up," José Sr promised them before staggering out with the aid of his son._

_Not a minute after the visitors left, the family walked in along with Kate. The awkward silence between Anastasia and Christian's parents was astounding but no one lingered on that for too long. They were all going to reserve their questions until later._

_"Ana, it's all over the news," Kate told her._

_"What did you expect?"_

_Kate shrugged at that. "You look tired, we'll come back when you're feeling better."_

_The families left as quickly as they came and the room quieted once again._

_Anastasia turned her head and a playful smile slowly appeared when her eyes met Christian's, as if to say:  
_at last, we're finally alone.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	35. In A Bubble

_**In a Bubble**_

"Christian, my drip!" Anastasia stressed, this time shaking Christian's shoulder a little rougher. His neck was still in a cast and his voice was still restrained, but he was in far better condition than she was; since she was still in bed and all.

He jumped up from his seat and ran out of the room nearly running over a nurse who was just about to push open the door to enter.

"Sorry," he apologized sheepishly. "Her drip's finished," he informed her unnecessarily as he closed the door behind her and followed her to Anastasia's bed side. He resumed his seat as he waited for the needle to be removed. He still shivered when he saw that thin, pointy metallic pulled out of her flesh.

"Why do you have to wake me when you've clearly gotten everything under control," he whined in his whispery tone that became his usual voice nowadays, referring to the call button that she had pressed to summon the nurse.

"Because you were having a nightmare."

"I wasn't having a nightmare," he protested weakly. In his defense, nothing would categorize as a nightmare unless it woke him up all sweaty and scared.

"I can see it on your face that you were clearly uncomfortable and fearful of whatever your vision was in that nap."

He pursed his lips but didn't deny the claim. She could still read him like an open book.

"You were recollecting things aren't you? You were remembering that night," that was more of a statement. "I told you to not think about it! Didn't I?" She slammed her fist down to her side showing her frustration. "Forget about it; forget about _everything_ because we are only going to revisit those when we are fully recovered and right now, none of us are even close to that stage."

"Stop moving so much," he lamented, holding her little fist hostage in his large hand.

"It's been four weeks, and I'm only shot in the chest, why can't I get out of bed a walk?" She complained, she was getting whinier by the day and he could feel her frustration. "My muscles are disappearing!"

"That wound," Christian reminded, "is very close to your heart, literally. So, your ass better stay in this bed until the soft tissue deep inside are healed."

"When is your cast coming off? I hated that thing, it always hits my head when I sleep." Since she was the one in bed all day and not yet discharged, she thought she was allowed to be a little petulant. Besides, everyone around her was spoiling her, especially Christian who was always coddling her.

"Today."

"Really?"

"If that bothers you that much."

"Christian," Anastasia was about to launch into another lecture about how she didn't want him to take it off early only because it was affecting her each time he cuddled or slept with her. The frequency of them sharing the same bed had been giving every nurse headaches but there was nothing they could do, because the head nurse had already turned a blind eye to it.

"I was cleared a few days ago, but they told me I could choose to wear it another week as a placebo."

"Are you feeling better though? Like confident enough to take it off?"

"I mean, the scans all showed that they're mostly healed, so yeah. I just don't want my neck to go stiff. I've worn it for almost a month now."

"So, do you want it off?"

He nodded.

"Then, do it!" She trusted that he wouldn't make a decision about his own wellbeing based on her opinion, so she encouraged.

"Maybe after they change your dressing."

"They haven't done it? I thought they'd be doing this early in the morning when I'm still asleep."

"You know how they hated when they see us sharing the same bed."

"Yeah, but some of them just ignores you and changes my dressing. At least I remembered that they've done it."

"You must be dreaming, Anastasia," Christian chuckled from the side of the bed. He had got out when he had to use the bathroom in the morning and never bothered climbing back in.

"What? It's true."

"No, they've never done that. You think they've done it because I got out. I didn't want to wake you up so I got out so they could change your dressing before climbing back in."

"And, I never know that you've moved?"

"Nope, you're like a pig," he jested.

"Oh my god, just go get that thing off of your neck," she groaned, making the act of shoving him away. "If I'd known you'd be so annoying I'd never have woken you up."

Christian laughed as he stood up.

"Just go find your doctor to get the approval or something. I don't care but don't come back until it's gone," she waved her arms around. She was fussy lately because there was nothing she could do unless she was getting out of bed for the bathroom, which she still needed help with.

"Just because you're on pain meds, Ana, it doesn't mean that you get to move like that." Christian scolded, grabbing both of her arms and pinning it to her sides. He lowered his head so their foreheads touched. "I'll let you move however you like once you're discharged but since I'm no doctor, and you're still in the hospital, you're not moving your limbs."

"Just get lost," she pouted petulantly, averting his gaze purposely.

"Love you," he pecked her protruding lips and left the room before she got a chance to protest.

"Bastard," she murmured to herself as she laid back against her bed. She picked up her phone and started to reread the email sent from Denmark about the patent, it was all she had been doing lately just to pass time. Simply because it was easily her highest accomplishment before she put her career on-hold and she would like to be kept up-to-date with it.

"Ana," Kate sang and Malcolm followed. Anastasia frowned but then decided to not let her grumpy mood show so she relaxed her brows, and kept her attitude in check. She usually came by herself, and she was always in New York even though she had been transferred over.

"Hey guys," she greeted, putting her phone down.

"Malcolm said he wanted to stop by, and see Christian but I told him that he practically lives with you."

"Uh, yeah… I mean he hasn't gone back since he was discharged. It wasn't like Escala is anything like a home anymore. The police had taped it up and everything. Then, there was this search warrant that they obtained from months ago…" Anastasia rambled off because it was only recently told to her and she hadn't spoken to anyone else about it since then, so it had been bottling up inside her.

"So, where is all his stuff?" Kate inquired, taking a seat next to her bed.

"In his parents house apparently." Her stuff was moved to Ethan's apartment since there wasn't much left in Escala and she wasn't exactly on the best terms with the Greys.

"Has Ethan stopped by?"

"Yes, he has. He's doing better than you," Anastasia teased. "He comes by every night after he gets off work."

"And your man hasn't said anything?"

"Who, Christian? Nah, not really. At least I didn't hear him complaining."

"Oh, well, I'll tell you what. I've got great news!" Kate announced excitedly, she was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Okay?"

Kate glanced at Malcolm who gave her an encouraging nod. "Malcolm moved to Seattle."

"And?"

"Which means, I'll be paying more visits."

"I'm being discharged this week."

Kate's face fell a little.

"Where are you going to stay then?"

"Maybe with Ethan temporarily?"

"Aren't you going to stay with Christian?"

"At his parents' place? No, thanks."

"You guys can go to a hotel or rent a place, it's not like he doesn't have money."

"He doesn't."

"Steele, what have you been looking at on your phone all these days? Have you not been reading the news?"

"Not really, why? It's not like I'm going out to face the world any time soon, why should I be concerned about what goes on there?"

"_Because_," Kate stressed with extra emphasis, "GEH has been making headlines every single day."

"It has been since the beginning of this year," Anastasia deadpanned and Malcolm stifled a laugh, unsuccessfully, earning a glare from Kate.

"No, they're about GEH's growth."

"Okay, so?"

"I swear you've used up all of your IQ saving Christian's company. Are you sure Adam didn't do anything to your head?"

"He wasn't even in Seattle when I was in surgery," Anastasia rolled her eyes. "And, I've got a trusted anesthesiologist, so no, nothing happened to my brain. I've still got the same stupid mind inside this skull."

"Your man is rich, I tell you. Like, on his way to reclaiming his multi-millionaire rich. People are crawling back to him, begging on their hands and knees, grovelling at him to take them back."

Anastasia raised her brows at her exaggeration.

"I'm serious. Just call whoever you have to call to find out. I'm sure you've got all the necessary connections. Or better yet, just ask Christian. By the way, where is he?"

"He's gone to get his cast off," she replied, glancing at the empty side. "How much of it got into the news?"

"Everything," Kate sighed. "This can hardly be concealed from the press. People saw the ambulance and the police car all racing toward Escala, and some of the night owls swore they saw a helicopter flying out of Escala."

"Yeah, that was me. They were airlifting me out," she told her to clear up the confusion. Apparently no one knew what was going on with the chopper and no one knew who was in the ambulance. Though, it shouldn't be that hard to deduce since Elena had been reported to be dead with a shot in through the head.

"What really happened? You still haven't told me that."

"I'm not going to until I'm out of this place."

"Have you two talked?" Kate asked, indicating the incident.

"Nope, there's no point. We should be focusing on our recovery."

"Is Christian okay? I mean, he did try to hang himself."

"What exactly is said in the news?" Anastasia frowned when she realized that Kate didn't know half of the truth.

"Mostly what the police and FBI dished out. Elena's dead, there's a noose cut loose from the carabiner from the ceiling grid in his playroom. A stool. A pool of blood and a gun."

Anastasia groaned. There could be millions of interpretation of the scene. Everything was so out of context for the readers. She could only imagine how everything looked like to everybody around the world.

"Fine, I'll give you a watery run-down of everything. I don't know what happened before I arrived, obviously. So, you can probably record this and correct the public"

Kate nodded and took out her notepad and pen that she would never leave behind, just like her lipstick and a bunch of other cosmetics, no wonder her purse was always huge.

"Christian didn't hang himself because he's suffering from depression but because Elena threatened him with a gun. Taylor was the one that cut the rope loose, and I was the one shot with the gun. She was then shot by Sawyer."

"Wait… what?" Kate stopped writing mid-sentence when Anastasia clammed her mouth shut so she wouldn't splutter out about the letters.

"What?" Anastasia parroted.

"Never mind…" the reporter muttered to herself and finished the sentence on her notebook.

"You can publish it."

"I'll be Kaetlyn one last time, then."

"I knew it!" A soft whisper came from the doorway. It really appeared like Christian had been eavesdropping and that was supposed to be a whisper to himself.

"He can't use his full voice so he can only whisper for the time being," Anastasia explained when both Malcolm and Kate darted their eyes back and forth between the man at the door and the woman in bed.

"You're Kaetlyn," Christian pointed a finger at Kate as if his voice wouldn't be loud enough to be heard.

"I am, yes?" Kate nodded. She had apparently forgot that no one knew about this other than Anastasia and Malcolm.

"You published all the articles about my childhood."

Anastasia blanched at that reminder. She turned to Kate and they shared a look that somewhat resembled panic.

"Who told you those stories?" Christian inquired, he had yet to acknowledge Malcolm and Anastasia was tempted to remind him of another presence.

Kate looked at her best friend. The brunette then turned to Christian to gauge his reaction as she confirmed his suspicion.

"Thank you, baby," he leaned forward and kissed the corner of her lips.

"You're not mad?" She whispered quietly.

He shook his head.

"I kind of made them up…" she admitted, drawing in her bottom lip and chewing on them nervously.

"Oh, I know you did. I've read them. It's quite dramatic, everything." Christian snorted, breaking their bubble and their eye contact, forcing Anastasia to turn back to the two visitors.

"At least we got the point across," Kate shrugged. "Ana was right," Anastasia stared at her as if she had lost her mind, "a little white lie won't do any harm. The press had already spread too many lies to the public, a few from Ana wouldn't make a difference. It really doesn't matter what the public beliefs but more about how you turn the tides and clear your name."

Anastasia continued to stare at Kate.

"I said that?"

"Yes, dummy. You did, Malcolm can vouch for me, right?" Kate threw her head back locating Malcolm who had been keeping a distance.

"Malcolm?" Christian finally looked up and acknowledged the other man in the room. "I didn't see you there, man. I'm sorry," he showed no signs of recognizing the man.

"No worries," Malcolm waved it off. Then, an awkward silence ensued.

"Christian, he said he knows Elena."

"A lot of people do," Christian frowned at Anastasia's statement.

"No, I mean, he's Kate's Dom."

"You're a sub?" Christian spluttered out, his eyes immediately landed on the blonde. "Wait, so you know about… me."

Kate nodded sheepishly. "I tried to get Ana to admit it but she won't. Though, it is kind of obvious. Still, Ana insists that she's a BDSM virgin."

"I am! Goddammit, Kate!" Anastasia cried out in frustration.

"Easy, tiger," Christian patted her right shoulder with a chuckle, which was furthest from her injury. When he felt her glare, he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on the collarbone over the thin fabric that was the hospital gown.

"Yeah, whatever," Kate brushed her off. "Anyway, Malcolm said that all the photos had Elena written all over it."

"I thought you said we shouldn't be talking about what happened?" Christian poked Anastasia on the side lightly and jokingly.

"I wasn't the one talking. Did you hear those words from my mouth, huh?"

"Ana, what happened to you? You're so grumpy these days."

"I'm cranky because I'm not let out of this bed. I have to be carried to the bathroom for god's sake! I only got shot on the chest. That's only _one_ wound! And, now I'm treated like I'm some girl with a whole bunch of disabilities."

Kate studied her best friend with concerned eyes, all the while the two guys laughed in silence with their hand over their mouth in vain attempt to cover it up.

The door opened again. In walked Adam and Addie, a nurse and another doctor that she was told was her surgeon.

"Are you here to hand me the discharge papers?" Anastasia asked the moment all of them were inside the room with the door closed behind them.

"I thought I told you when you're going to be discharged," Adam glared at her.

"Can't you push it a few days early?"

"No," Adam said sternly but Anastasia knew he couldn't keep that straight face for more than a mere five minutes.

"You're not my doctor anyway," she pouted. "If you don't let me out of here, or at least allow me to get off bed so I can move on my own, my attitude is only going to get worse." With that tone used, she should be crossing her arms in front of her chest, but with her injury she wasn't allowed to do that.

"You're right, he's not and I am," the doctor that had been stood by the side taking in the exchange in silence said. "So, I'm going to tell you again. You're getting those papers at the end of this week and don't even think about going to the nurse station to steal them. I know you have access to everything but still, no."

Anastasia only huffed but she knew that was no use. She tried.

"Do you have any good news, then?"

"Yes," the good doctor replied. "You're going to jump up in glee _after_ you got your dressing changed, though."

"Fine, you have my word."

The doctor glanced at Christian, who also gave him an assuring nod. Anastasia rolled her eyes. It was a well-established hidden rule that Christian was the only person who could get her to behave and listen. They found out that she had a huge soft-spot for him and would do anything to please him.

"You're off bed-rest; _but_," he raised a finger to stop her. Anastasia was by far his favorite patient. Not only because she was a doctor working in this hospital but also because she was funny when she put up an attitude or a fight about everything. Since she couldn't move too much, her mouth had been doing all the exercise nonstop, and it was a breath of fresh air because she was the only patient that had a ball of energy every time he checked in on her. If only all of his patients were like her, his job would've been so much easier.

"What?" She whined loudly and pretentiously.

"Take it easy."

Anastasia scoffed. "Oh, trust me, with Christian here, I'd hardly be doing _any_ walking." She jabbed her thumb in his direction nearly poking him in the eye forgetting that he had been resting his head on her shoulder.

"That's good to hear," the doctor chirped before leaving them.

"I don't call the shots, see?" That was Adam, sounding all smug and victorious.

"What are you doing here?"

"I got you something, but clearly you don't want it."

"Oh! I know what you have!" Anastasia suddenly perked up causing Christian to jerk his head up, almost breaking his recently healed neck. "My plaque!"

Adam laughed loudly but said nothing as he took out a rectangular item from his handbag. It was wrapped in those plastic bubbly wrappers. He smiled a mysterious smile when he handed it to her but she didn't see it as she snatched it from him like a little child.

"Thank you," she chirped and started to claw at the wrappers.

There was a brown cardboard box inside. She didn't hesitate to get rid of that container, but the way her face ashen and fell as she took the first peak inside made everyone in the room chuckle. She knew she had become some sort of entertainer in the past couple of weeks that she had been conscious and sober in this hospital, and she didn't mind that she was making people laugh, but the gift that was shipped over from Copenhagen was seriously depression and disappointing.

"What the fuck?" She mumbled in utter astonishment as she tipped the box over and dumped the entire content in her lap.

It was a certificate.

Her eyes darted up to Adam who was now doubling over with laughter and Addie with a cameraphone pointed at her.

"What the hell is this?" She shrieked. She could feel Christian hiding his face in the crook of her neck while he laughed his ass off. "I was told that I'd be getting a plaque. A porcelain one! They wrote this in the email!"

Adam held up a hand telling her to wait because he still hadn't finished laughing at her. Kate giggled uncontrollably and fell into Malcolm's side to steady herself, and although he had a smile on his face, he was the most clueless person in this room. Granted, Christian didn't know what was going on either since he didn't know the Hall siblings but he'd laugh at whatever made her laugh.

"I- I need…" Adam couldn't stop laughing as he held the end of the bed. "Wait," he took a deep breath and looked up at her only to start giggling again.

"You have it don't you?" Anastasia narrowed her eyes. "It was shipped over half a month ago, it should be here. Don't tell me you've broke it and made me this make-shift wannabe plaque last minute." She picked up her certificate and examined it closely, it was an official certificate from the  
Danish Council for Independent Research, which was the organization the US government worked with. "At least this is a legit one," she muttered.

Adam finally recovered and reached inside his bag again. This time, he pulled out a porcelain plate. It had no wrapping, no protection, nada.

She took it with both of her hands afraid that she'd drop it and break it. Her eyes darted back and forth before Adam and the real plaque. She was only connecting the dots now—Adam had removed the wrapping from this plate to wrap it around the paper certificate just to fool her.

"Asshole," she wanted to sound annoyed but nothing could block her beaming smile. "Ahh!" She squealed. "I'm officially a patented doctor!"

"Ana, your stitches!" Christian warned from the side but she wasn't listening.

"Thank you, Adam!" She blew him a kiss before returning to admiring the porcelain with her name and accomplishment printed in the center. "Look at it, Christian. It's beautiful."

Christian grinned, he could feel the happiness radiating off of her.

She did it!

"I want a hug," Anastasia demanded, opening both of her arms waiting for Adam. He walked over gingerly and wrapped his arms around her careful with her injury.

"I'm so proud of you, kid."

"Thank you so much!"

He pulled away from the embrace after whispering something in her ear that Christian couldn't make out, but Anastasia was laughing as he winked at her before disappearing through the door. Addie followed after offering her congratulations.

"Congratulations, Steele!" Kate was the first to jump over. "We should celebrate with some champaign but you can't drink right now."

"We can do the celebration along with my birthday!"

"Congrats, Ana," Malcolm stood closer.

"Thank you," Anastasia peered up at him sweetly, and Christian just wanted to pull her into his lap and cuddle. She looked so adorable and giddy. "We should all hangout some time after I'm outta this place," she suggested in her moment of happiness.

The couple agreed.

…

"Oh, finally!" Anastasia sniffed around when Gail entered. She had been bugging Christian about lunch ever since he climbed back next to her after all the visitors left. He got his cuddles and he could still feel her vibrance resonating through her body. "I'm starving," she exclaimed.

"I thought you said I'm feeding you too much like I'm trying to fatten you up."

"Yeah!" She said half heartedly as she tried to lean over but felt herself being restrained back.

"You're on pain med, so you have to be conscious of your stitches," Christian warned her next to her ear as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulling her back.

"Do you feel the meat accumulating on my waist?" She swatted at his hands. "It's all you. I swear, you're trying to fatten me up so you can cut my flesh off like I'm some pig."

"You're too thin."

"Do you not feel those fat? You've been feeling me up every second of the day and I know you're lying when you said that I've not gained weight."

"You really haven't."

"I haven't weigh myself in years."

"I carry you around on a daily basis, Anastasia," Christian reasoned, or more like argued back as Gail set up the table next to them. "You weight like nothing."

"You've been saying that since we met."

"Because it's true! You know you eat a lot and waste the majority of them."

"Well, now that I'm not doing any exercise, they shouldn't go anywhere."

"Uh huh… you really haven't gain a single pound. Your arms and legs are still bony, and then there's your tiny waist."

Anastasia pursed her lips and ignored him.

"I'm going to eat by myself," she announced petulantly. "Just to prevent you from stuffing extra food down my throat in the name of providing sufficient nutrition," she glared at him and took the bowl from Gail with a sweet thank you.

"You don't want me to feed you?" He asked her amused. She loved it when he took care of her even though she'd never admit it, but she secretly enjoyed it when he fed her.

"You've never fed me." She murmured with a spoonful in her mouth hoping that no one heard her.

Christian laughed, and he knew that she was just embarrassed that she still needed feeding when she was totally capable of doing that herself. He still remembered her warning him to pretend that she was feeding herself if someone walked into the room when he was holding the fork to her mouth.

"You're never living this down," he leaned over and whispered in her ear. Anastasia scowled but continued to devour food.

"Thank you, Gail! Take care of Taco!" Anastasia yelled when she hurried out of the room saying that she had to go back before Taco destroyed the kitchen in the staff quarters. The main house had been blocked by the police and marked as a crime scene for investigation, where in reality, Elena's house should be the focus.

"You tell me I'm feeding you too much, and look at what you're doing here," he teased when she reached over to steal a spoon of his portion when she almost finished wolfing down hers.

"Fuck off," she muttered with a mouthful so it really didn't come out like a curse.

He had very little trouble swallowing food now but he could still feel the scar when he swallowed, so he had been eating rather slowly, which would sometimes end up with his food being stolen fork by fork by his girl. Not that he minded because he had told Gail to secretly put extra in his portion, knowing that he wouldn't be the only one eating from his plate.

"Do you know Malcolm?" Anastasia set her empty bowl down in between their laps on the bed, and extended her hand asking for a piece of tissue. He obediently handed it over and resumed his eating.

"No," he shook his head. "Why?"

"He knows you and he said both of you are highly sought after Doms," she shuddered, still bothered at the mental image formed from that statement. "He said your subs fall for you easily."

"I'm not sure about the easily part, but I do know that they've fell for me before," he admitted emotionlessly and detachedly.

"So, do you know him?"

"Maybe, but we aren't close even if I do know him. Why?"

"No, just curious."

"You do know that curiosity kills cats right?" He teased, taking in another forkful.

"I'm a kitten, not a cat," she grinned cheekily and jested back.

…

Anastasia was over the moon today, because she got her discharge papers.

She would never admit this to anyone but if it wasn't for the pain medications prescribed to her by dear friend and colleague Addie, she wouldn't be constantly in an upbeat mood with loads of energy to burn. She wouldn't be yapping everyone, especially Christian's ears off every second of the day.

Deep down, she was grateful for Addie's intervention because that meant she had received special treatment from the hospital. She had seen patients with those normal meds, and they were grumpy as hell because the dosage wasn't enough or whatever. Still, she had an unwavering support system starting with her doctors, so she was very thankful for her life.

And now, she couldn't be more thankful for it because she was now packing up her shit so she could high tail out of this place.

Anastasia hopped down the bed and bounced on her two feet lightly. It was good to be standing on her own again. She had only been doing that for less than a week, since Christian and her parents both believed that she was too fragile to actually walk on her own. So, all she did was stand next to the bed in between Christian's legs, and wasn't allowed to do anything else.

Everyone was all too protective of her. Especially the three above-mentioned.

She made her way to the bathroom with her change of clothes. She wanted to take a shower but she knew if she voiced that thought, Christian would insist on following her.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen her naked before, but she still didn't want to be that intimate so soon after they had been separated for years.

"I'll call you when I'm done, yeah? You can just wait outside the door. It's not soundproof so you can hear everything. I promise, I'll holler if anything happened."

"Tell me when you're done or need help. Don't challenge your body."

"Yes," she rolled her eyes and shut the door in his face.

When looked in the full length mirror at her nude reflection, she pinched her side and scowled slightly.

"Christian," she called out mindlessly as she fondled with her fat.

He swung the door open and closed it right after him as he took in her naked form.

"I thought you don't want me gawking at you when you shower. You said it's too intimate, and now what am I seeing?"

"Oh," she blushed as she realized what she had just done. "Old habits die hard, I guess," she sighed, referring to the time when they were dating where she would call him and tell him about the most random observation she had made. That was their unique open communication that no one understood.

"Glad to hear it, but aren't you going to shower?"

"You said I didn't gain weight, but look at this…" she pinched the small bit of fat and played with it to demonstrate just to bring the point home. "I didn't have this before coming in."

"Well, it's good that you've got some meat on you now."

"I didn't have extra fat! You got them for me!"

"I did? How?"

"You fed me too much and now I'm like a pig."

Christian laughed.

"Just get into the shower, my little piglet." He pulled her in for a quick kiss before releasing her for the shower.

"Why are you always kissing me?" She didn't head that way, nor did she have the intention to do so when he surprised her with that move and kiss.

"Is that inappropriate?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?"

"Friends don't kiss." She really sounded like a five year-old right now, and she was fully aware of that.

"Maybe we can be more than friends," he suggested half seriously.

Anastasia didn't speak. She continued to inspect her 'fat' that had taken residence on her cheeks. Christian had had enough. He spun her around by the shoulders and pinched her cheeks before cupping them.

"Stop staring at them. They're where they supposed to be." He told her firmly, more like ordered her.

"I didn't have them a few months ago."

"Then I can only imagine how thin you are a few months ago. You had them when we first met."

"No, I didn't. Now I look chubby."

"You're adorable, courageous and mine, remember that."

"Yours? Since when?"

"Since July 2012," he lifted an eyebrow at her. "Now, go take that shower, baby. If you don't step in there soon, I'm going to take a shit."

At that, Anastasia quickly scrambled behind the curtain and turned on the water. It wasn't lost on her that he dutifully swatted her ass like he normally would.

"Get out," Anastasia's voice came from behind the curtains and the mirror was now steaming up quickly.

"I wasn't lying when I said I need to take a shit," Christian chuckled as he lowered himself onto the toilet seat. He laughed even harder when he heard her groan.

"I need to use extra shampoo and shower gel. Wait! Where are mine?" She exclaimed. "Ugh, whatever, I'll just finish yours." She said to herself, and he could hear her squirting the almost empty shampoo bottle, and the familiar scent subsequently rushed out covering the smell of the odor of his waste.

"Now you get to smell like me, which I'm sure is what you've been dreaming of."

"Cocky bastard," she mumbled. "I thought you want me to smell like me, cause you like sniffing me."

"Now who's assuming."

"I'm not! You do love to sniff me like you're Taco."

"I've never peed on you, if that's what you're suggesting."

When Anastasia switched off the tap, for some reason she was under the impression that he was no longer in the room since she heard the door open and close.

"Did you finish all of my shower gel, too?" He laughed when he heard her gasp in surprise.

"Yes, I needed that to cover up the stinky smell."

"Okay, come out then. I've got your fluffy towel."

"Is it still soft?"

"Yes," Christian rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Now, come on."

She stepped out and walked into the awaiting towel. She was soon wrapped in the huge towel that she had surely missed. He took this chance to wrap his arms around her tightly in an embrace.

"You're wetting my shirt."

"Then, dry my hair," she mumbled, rubbing her face against his chest.

He reached behind her and grabbed a smaller towel and started to fuss with her hair.

"You're making me dry you off and you're still skeptical of who you belong to?"

She didn't say anything. Her eyes were closed and she just enjoyed the feeling of being taken care of.

…

Once she was all done, Christian sat down next to her and she knew the inevitable was coming.

"Now, on to the serious topic," Christian tugged her back by the elbow.

Her stitches were now dried and her suture had closed up pretty decently by the looks of it, but upon closer examination, it wasn't.

"Who are you staying with?"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	36. Reality Check

_**Reality Check**_

_"Who are you staying with?"_

"What's that supposed to mean? I have to stay with somebody?"

"Yes, you have to because you still need help getting out of bed and doing other stuff."

"Oh, and I'm guessing you're going to suggest that I move in with you to wherever you're staying? Which at the moment is your parents' house."

"We don't have to go to my parents' place. I know enough to know that you aren't on the best of terms with them… and that's putting it lightly," he added once he saw the expression morphed from skepticism to anger.

"Then where? It's not like we can go back to Escala, or that I even want to."

"We aren't going back there either."

"Then what?"

"Are you going to move in with me?"

"I don't even know where you're going to stay, so how am I going to decide?"

"Who are you going to stay with if not with me?"

"Ethan," she said in a matter-of-factly. "Duh," she added for the effect.

"That's not happening."

Anastasia's frown deepened at his tone. She thought he knew better than to be jealous of Ethan, he saw the blond dude every single day and he should've detected by now that Ethan saw her the same as he saw Kate—a younger sister, just not by blood.

"We can stay in a hotel."

"Can you even afford it?"

"Anastasia," Christian's tone hardened but she didn't back down, as he expected. "We can rent a place," he suggested exasperatedly. "I can afford to _rent_ one, since I know that I'm not half as rich as I used to be but I'll get there eventually."

"Are you even making progress at this moment?"

"No," he admitted with a frustrated sigh.

"So, your company is still stagnated. Well, at least that's better than a deficit."

"Yes, it is, and we will start making profit to fill in the rest of the little dents. Now, back to living arrangements. José Sr offered a condo…"

"We are _not_ taking any more from the Rodriguez family," Anastasia vetoed it firmly.

"What do you mean taking? Oh…" recollection of the document that Ros handed to him on his first day back to work, with both her and José's name on it. "He really did buy my penthouse, club and jet, and signed them to you. He didn't ask you to pay for anything? Like not even a small portion?"

"No," Anastasia clearly wasn't referring to that small transaction, she was referring to something even more significant, but she remembered that he didn't know.

"Do you know the conversation I had with José Sr in New York when we first met?"

"No, I don't even know you know him."

"He told me that he's time is going to be up very soon, and his son is still a little bit slow and dense at business, but he sees the potential in me."

"So, he wants to support you and then take over?"

"No, he wants to invest in me and my business, and offer me unlimited financial support just so I can aid his son when the time comes. I'm not taking over his business, but I'm going to be like a consultant."

"Isn't that a win-win?"

"Kind of, but it's more like a business transaction, only this one is long term. You never told me about your story with them."

"Later," she brushed it off. "Is that your way of convincing me to take their condo?"

"I told them I'd consider it because I know you won't want to stay under the same roof with my parents, but I want to stay with you and I want to take care of you. So, I didn't decline the offer outright. What do you say?"

Anastasia really pondered. The past few weeks with Christin had definitely proved that their chemistry and connection had truly not fizzled out. She wanted to give them a shot, because quite frankly, all of her worries had been proven useless.

Everything that she had been trying to avoid by breaking up with Christian in the first place was now her reality. She truly was going to start over whether Christian was with her or not.

The only difference was, this time she could choose; well, more like she allowed herself another choice. She could walk down that path by herself or with Christian.

Granted, Christian was still in far better conditions in every way than her, just like how they were when they first met.

Nonetheless, even though they were all back to where they started, at least they could view this as a second chance.

And, the circumstances had changed, too.

"And?" He nudged her. "You have been thinking for a long time now, and the nurse is going to come back with your papers. So, what's the verdict?"

As if on cue, the Hall siblings walked in with a nurse behind them. She quickly handed the papers to Anastasia and disappeared.

"What are you two doing here looking so bored?" Anastasia teased her two friends and colleagues.

"We're just here to say goodbye."

"We need to find a time. And have a meal together," Adam added after his sister. "The four of us," he clarified smugly.

'Of course," Anastasia muttered in amusement, rolling her eyes after she realized that he had purposefully included Christian in their union. "I remember what you told me. You warned me that if I'm not going to make a move and claim his ass, you will."

"Hey! That was supposed to between us! I whispered that in your ear after giving you that plate for a reason!" Adam whined abut his pager sounded before he could say anymore.

"We'll find a time," Addie reminded her before making her way out as she checked her temporary pager for her stay in Northwest.

"I can stay with my parents," Anastasia resumed their conversation from where they left off before Christian could even ask about what just happened.

"In Montesano? And, intruding on their romantic fairytale? Being a third wheel while you constantly needs to badger them for help?"

Anastasia scoffed, but didn't say anything because he was right. Her folks were notorious for their own little world. She grew up in that kind of environment, which was partly why she wasn't too much of a romantic. She didn't want a relationship like her parents' where they were always so co-dependent.

"You know I'm right," he poked her side but she continued to sulk, at least pretending to do so. "You're cracking."

"No, I'm not. You're so annoying!"

"You're cracking, I can see that smile threatening to break loose."

Anastasia only stomped her foot against and brought her hands to her hips since she couldn't cross them in front of her chest.

"I know you want to laugh. Why don't I turn away so I don't see it?" He made a show of twisting away with his hand shielding the side of his face, blocking his view and crouching down a bit so he looked like he had curled up.

That did the job. She cracked.

"Stop it! You are ridiculously childish," she shoved his arms whining in protest, still trying to hide her smile but ended up giggling. Then, she stopped abruptly. "Stop trying to make me laugh. My gunshot wound, remember?"

"Oh, and here I thought it was just an injury because you didn't seem all that concerned seconds ago when you refused to live with me."

"I can move around on my own just fine. I just need help with stuff that requires upper body strength because I'm not supposed to let the muscles contract too much to pull the wound."

"Which is preventing you from doing basically everything."

"Hence, I'm going to stay with my parents."

Christian lifted an eyebrow, silently reminding her his very logical argument from earlier.

"Fine, you win. But, what if we don't work out and you kick me out?"

"Baby, we're already back to our starting point, just give me—give us—a little leap of faith. Please?"

"You are so cliché."

"As long as I get you to say yes to moving in with me."

"Fine," she dragged the syllable out in a coquettish whine. "Okay."

"Say yes."

"Yes," she rolled her eyes. "I'll stay with you. We'll live together."

"You'll move in with me and we're going to stay at Rodriguez's condo."

She glared at him, instantly regretting her decision.

"For the time being," he added, just to ease her conscience.

"We will discuss where we're going once we settle in," she vowed and he nodded, concurring. There was no way he could get out of this conversation because she was constantly going to bring it up until they settled on something.

"Finally, we've come to an agreement."

Christian was just about to pull her closer for a kiss to seal the deal, they were interrupted, again.

"Jesus, I fee like I'm moving out of the planet with the way you guys all show up at once." Anastasia was slightly put off for their interruption since she, too, was looking forward for that kiss.

"Be nice, Ana," Christian admonished, he wouldn't have done it if it was just his siblings and the Kavanagh siblings here.

"We just wanted to say goodbye," Kate said. Malcolm wasn't with her this time, which was somewhat rare.

"You make it wound like I'm dying."

"They're just concerned. It is worth celebrating, though. You're finally out of the hospital," Ethan stepped closer to embrace his second sister. "As a patient," he added seconds later. Christian was still slightly uncomfortable witnessing the exchange.

"As a patient," Elliot sniggered.

"Who are you staying with?" Mia piped in. "I mean, you might want to stay with someone so you can recover faster."

Anastasia jabbed her thumb toward Christian but remained in Ethan's arms. The simple indication only made Christian proud. He wanted to puff up his chest to show everyone who she belonged to, only to remember that none of the people in this room was his competition. They were all her family.

"Are you two back together?" Kate and Carla gasped together. That was when Christian realized that he had been too focused on consoling Anastasia and forgot to greet the parents.

"Carla, Ray, you really didn't have to drive all the way up here so early in the morning."

"Nonsense. We thought we might offer a place for Annie to stay, but I can see that has been taken care of already," Ray responded, and Christian chest swelled with pride once again by the trust, acceptance and approval from Anastasia's family.

"We're not back together," Anastasia replied. "But, we're working on it."

"That's new," Christian huffed playfully, there was a cheeky grin on his face at the same time. He had no idea that they were heading toward the path to a romantic and intimate relationship. At least not so soon. He thought they would have to get past resolving the aftermath of the scandal and the very last incident first.

"Oh," Carla appeared to be a tad bit disappointed, but didn't comment any further.

Christian was even more confused because he thought Anastasia's parents would be mortified that their daughter was associated with a monster like him. He was sure that they would be kicking him to the curb if he got close to Anastasia the second time, but they didn't when they saw him in her hospital room. Anastasia said that her parents lived under a rock, but he didn't know that they'd be so oblivious to the news, especially when Anastasia said that they probably knew what was going on.

"Do you two need any help with anything?" Elliot, for the first time acting like a mature and responsible adult in a casual setting. He was serious about the entire hospital trip because he still didn't know what went down other than what had been reported in the news, which Kate claimed was fake.

"Do I?" Anastasia mused aloud. "Probably not. We have Luke and Jason, it's okay." She had no idea when she went on first name basis with the two security but it sounded natural, so she just said it.

"Cool, I'll leave you two kids to it then," Elliot announced in a straight face but everyone else cracked up, especially Carla and Ray, the legit adults.

"Where are you going to stay?" Ethan asked, finally let go of Anastasia and she bounded back to Christian who immediately had his arms around her.

"We're renting a house."

"He is," Anastasia clarified. She already felt bad for asking them to spend so much money on him, and now she was going to live in their house; she felt like an utter gold digger for taking so much advantage of the kind family.

Despite the fact that she was well aware of the favor exchange that was expected between them and the Rodriguez family, she still felt bad for taking that offer. It wasn't like she felt indebted to them monetarily but she knew that there was no way her conscience would allow to her to turn away a favor they asked. Just like last time when she acted like a pussy and missed Christian's birthday. Speaking of which, she still needed to clear the air up with him, starting with that misunderstanding.

"Doesn't matter, because I just remembered that I need a hug," Elliot pushed through the thin crowd and peeled her from Christian's hold.

"Careful, El," Christian growled when he saw him squeezing her.

"Chill bro," Elliot teased. "I really need you as my sister because Mia is getting cliché, and I cannot wait!" He squealed, jumping up and down with his arms still around her.

"I don't know where you got that idea from," Anastasia rolled her eyes. "I'm only staying with him temporarily."

"Yeah, until you guys got a house of your own."

"Why aren't you going back to the penthouse? I thought the police had cleared everything already. At least, according to the news," Mia turned to Kate for confirmation, and the reporter nodded.

"The police?" Ray stiffened. Carla patted his chest and reminded him that he had already knew parts of the story. Anastasia's parents really didn't care about the whole story, they just wanted to know why the two kids went through what they did and the consequences. As for how it started, he really couldn't care less. "Has any of you give any statements?"

"They will be giving their statements once they settled into the apartment," Taylor snuck into the room, clearly having eavesdropped the conversation from the door. Sawyer was still at the door on the outside but could hear everything just as clear. "They will be giving their statements, and after they gave their report, everything will come out."

"Is the apartment ready?" Christian asked his henchman.

"Yes," the buzzcut nodded back. "Sawyer is also back."

"Great! We can go now, right?" Anastasia jumped away from Elliot and picked up Christian's arm, tugging it so he would stand up from where he was sitting. "You guys can go, we're fine on our own. You all can come and visit once we're settled in. We can have a nice long chat if ya all want," she waved around, eager to dismiss them. She really just wanted to get out of the hospital so she could convince herself that she was completely healed and ready to face the aftermath.

…

She knew she had to lay-off the pain meds gradually but the feeling she got when she was on them was making her addicted to the stuff. It wasn't the kind of addiction where she would get a side effect or a withdrawal, but she really needed to stop taking them so often because she had to know how her wound was healing.

When they arrived in their temporary home, as Anastasia insisted on calling it, he all but ordered her to bed. She hated staying in bed so she put up a fight, well, a mild one, and they reached a compromise.

"I'll go to the couch and stay out of your way," she told him. "I don't want to go to bed. I'm lonely there and I hate staying in bed. I've doing that for the past _month_. It's not like I can't move, I just can't lift a finger."

"Fine, stay there then."

"Are you going to cook tonight?" She asked with the sole purpose of keeping herself entertained while watching him move around the house and unpack. Her visual was satisfied but she needed to hear his voice, too.

She had been needy and clingy lately, especially when she was alone with him. Hence, she had been bothering him nonstop.

"Do you want me to?"

"Yes! I missed it," she nodded her head vigorously and beamed at him with utmost sincere gleam in her eyes. He couldn't help but move over to peck her pointy nose when he saw her expression.

"Okay, then I'll make dinner," he complied. Initially, he was planning on ordering take out or have Taylor send Gail's dinner over. The condo was new and didn't appear like it had been occupied ever since it was decorated.

"I don't think anyone's lived in this apartment."

"No, this was supposed to be for José's wife but she died before it was finished."

"Are you sure it's appropriate for us to take it then?"

"It was supposed to be one of their marriage presents." He continued, then thought about her question. "I mean, if it was me, then I'd probably never look at this apartment again. I would probably just sell it."

"Why don't you want to keep it?"

"If this was our condo, Anastasia," he turned to her in all seriousness. "And, say we're getting married and you didn't make it this time. I'd never even look at this place even if it's complete. I'd sell it to whichever lucky couple because this is supposed to be our place, but you're not here to witness its completion with me, so no, I'm definitely _not_ keeping it."

"I guess I just didn't think José's parents were actually like… in love. I just assumed that it was a marriage of convenience since you know… well, I'm forcing the stereotype on them."

"Yeah, you are."

"Well, we are going to move out soon, right?"

Christian halted mid-action once again and stared at her.

"Woman, I am unpacking all out shit here and you're there telling me that we're going pack all those shit up soon? Where the hell do you think we're going to go?"

"Well, I don't know," she shrugged but then remembered that she shouldn't do that. "Maybe that's something we should talk about?"

"Okay, there are shitload of stuff that we need to talk about, so let's get settled first and then you can come sit by the kitchen and watch me cook."

"And babble my mouth, rambling on shit like what we're doing in the future. Or, better yet, I'll be doing all the talking."

"It is all you've been doing since you woke up with me next to you in the hospital," he deadpanned.

"Well, you're not much of an entertainer, so I have to do the job myself."

"I'm no fun?"

"Kinda," she scrunched up her nose adorably as she pretended to think hard about the previous weeks they spent together. "I mean, you're practically completely healed and I'm still like half disabled, so yeah."

Before Christian could say anything, the shrill of his phone interrupted their light banter.

"It's in my jacket, answer it!" He hollered from the en suite bathroom. She was perfectly capable of setting up the bathroom since there really was nothing heavy to lift other than a few shampoo bottles, which weight practically like nothing. Yet, he still refused to let her lift a finger.

She got up from the couch and moved to the rack near the door where his waterproof jacket was. There really was no need to wear a jacket but he took it thinking she might be cold in her t-shirt and shorts when they walked out of the hospital to the car.

"Hello?" There was no caller ID, so she wasn't sure what she should say.

"I'm sorry, is this Mr Grey's phone?"

"It is, he's not available at the moment. Who are you?"

The guy said he was a detective, and that he needed to interview Christian to obtain a statement.

"Oh, then I assume you'd want one from me, too. I'm Ana Steele," she replied.

"Yes, we do. Can you suggest a suitable time?"

"Can I discuss this with Christian first? He will give you a call once we've settled on a date."

"Okay, thank you."

Anastasia hang up and put the phone back into the pocket.

"Who was that?"

"Some detective."

"For the statement? I thought I told them to go through Taylor."

She shrugged. "I don't know, but when can we get this shit over with?"

"Are you up for it?"

"What, to give a statement? Sure, why not? The sooner it's done, the less I have to think about it."

"Are we doing it here?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Christian nodded. He pocketed the phone after taking it out of his jacket so he could carry it around with him.

"Go back to the couch."

"I'm going to the bedroom, so leave the door open so I get to watch you."

"Well, aren't you a creep?" He laughed, scooping her up in his arms gently and bringing her over to the large bed in the middle of the room.

Taco jumped beneath her trying to reach her face or touch her with his nose. Christian laughed and pulled her closer to his chest. Taco was always curios of things high up that he couldn't see, he was always under the impression that they were hiding food from him.

"I don't deny being one," she giggled. With that, she was tucked into the softest bedding that she had felt in months. It made her miss the linen at Escala.

Taco's sudden appearance only reminded the couple of one thing.

He had already claimed something in his possession since he was dropped off here earlier than them.

"The guest room?" They questioned in unison. Taco wagged his tail smugly when the both of them turned to eye him, it only confirmed that he did indeed steal something.

…

As the couple sat down to dinner, it was somewhat weird to Anastasia that there was no help, no Gail, Taylor or Sawyer in the house. It was just. them.

The apartment was near the Puget Sound, which was somewhat secluded from the busy city life of Seattle and slightly better than facing Elliott Bay.

"How does tomorrow sound?" Anastasia asked Christian. They had yet to talk about everything, but they were very satisfied with their current life. There were still a few boxes to unpack but she was going to suggest that they leave it since they'd be moving out soon anyway.

"Tomorrow for what?" Christian frowned slightly as he watched her put a forkful of his famous mash potatoes in her mouth, moaning in pleasure as the cheese melted in her mouth. Taco immediately removed himself from next to Christian and shifted his attention to her and her plate. After planting his ass firmly on the ground, he turned his head back to Christian's direction, adjusting his body slightly to ensure that the entire table was under his scrutiny.

"To get the statements in," she stated with a forkful already cuing at her mouth and Taco straightening his back staring at that potato mash hopefully. "You already had a lot, Taco," Anastasia giggled softly, bringing the fork to his nose to tease him.

"I gave him probably like one-third of the total portion," Christian chortled. "Taco," he called for the dog's attention but with no food in his hand, the dog only spared him a quick glance that probably only lasted about a nanosecond.

"Why did you give him that much?" Anastasia protested, finally stuffing the fork inside her mouth to end Taco's misery.

"He asked for it," Christian shrugged. "Besides, we can't finish it anyway."

"And to think I spoiled him rotten," she jested. "I swear you made shitload on purpose just so Taco could have some."

"Or maybe he doesn't have to eat anything else after eating our leftovers. I did make everything Taco friendly."

"Taco got used to the rich, luxurious life and now I doubt he'd settle for the tiny apartment."

"I thought you think this condo was… intimate," he smiled smugly as he taunted her.

"It is. Well, more like the decor and the setting in this small space makes everything appear intimate." Anastasia waved her fork around in circles, and gave the kitchen and its connected living room a once over.

"Taco!" Christian laughed as he watched the dog's head followed the fork around and sprinted to the rescue when bits of mash fell from the utensil.

"Okay, we are getting off topic here now," she stabbed her fork into the bowl to emphasize her point. It got Taco's attention rather than Christian's though. The couple chuckled at Taco, resulting in a few wags of his tail sweeping on the floor. He really was fluffy from head to tail.

"Sure, tomorrow," he answered. "It's not like we're super busy with life at the moment."

"Who's phone is that?" She asked, sitting up as she glanced around the room attempting to locate the buzzing noise. Taco's ears perked up in alert as his eyes darted to the door, but instantly relaxed when he gathered that there was no one at the door; a false alarm.

"Mine's in my pocket," Christian patted the storage spot. Taco's eyes followed his hand and naively believed it was to send him a message, only for his male owner to stare back at him incredulously after he licked his hand.

"Who could be calling me? You're back, so I'm officially off duty," she lamented as she slowly stood up from the stool and started to pat through every jacket and give every surface a pat-down." Call my phone, Christian!" She hollered from the only spare bedroom, probably meant for Rodriguez's son initially, where she picked up a piece of clothing that she had recently wore.

"Guess Taco has already claimed the room," he chuckled, setting down his phone as it dialed for hers, he looked up just in time to see her walking out of the room with that cloth in her hand.

"Yup, he definitely did. Better than calling dibs on our bedroom."

"He will move all of our things within his reach to his place, trust me. He's been doing that in Escala on a daily basis. I'm constantly looking for my dirty laundry."

"That's because you stink too bad," she laughed loudly as she made her way to the main bedroom, finally locating her phone in the middle of it. "Why is my phone on our bed?" She declined Christian's incoming call and looked through her missed calls and messages.

"Probably fell out of your pocket when I carried you to bed."

"Or maybe Taco thought it belonged there," she joked, bringing her phone to her ear as she listened to the voicemail from Kate.

"Remember we had a rule about phones back then?" He reminded nonchalantly.

"Oh, that was when we're dating."

"Are we not heading down that path right now?"

"Maybe," she wanted to shrug her shoulders, but she knew it would only tear apart the soft tissue that was still healing. After all, the bullet cushioned through her left breast. "Kate wants to hangout, but I told her that we will after I am more settled."

"How long did you think we are staying here?" He watched her clambered up the high chair and placed her phone on top of his, honoring their rule.

"As short as possible."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to bother the Rodriguez duo anymore."

"Is it because they bought you the penthouse, the jet and the club?"

"How did you know all this?"

"Ros showed me the files. It was my first day back to the office."

"Speaking of back to work," she quickly took the first opportunity to divert the subject. She wanted to leave all the heavy discussion until they were interviewed. At least, in her opinion, there would be less to process when they gave their statements. She helped the detective was someone from the FBI, so they could spill everything." When are you planning on going back to the office and work full-time?"

Her idea of an FBI agent being less likely to be corrupted like the Seattle PD, and relatively more trustworthy was an unrealistic dream, but she found herself hoping it'd be true.

"When you are feeling better."

"Why?" Her brows furrowed at the simple statement.

"Two reasons. One, you need me to take care of you, since I know secretly you are still wishing for me to serve you breakfast in bed and feed you." He smirked when the scowled turned playful it deepened. "Two, you need to come in because you are the majority shareholder."

Anastasia gaped. She stared at him in horror hoping that he wasn't aware of the entire dealing process; but, the guy was too smart for his own good when it comes to gut instincts.

"I suspected that you are going to claim the majority stock, thinking it was out of obligation. Granted, it was what I expected, but I don't know where you got your money from."

She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. "You will know when it's time for me to sign them back to you."

"That's the problem, Ana. I don't want them back."

"You don't want your company back?" She gasped. "Everyone who bought a share signed a document agreeing that they would be signing over back to you once everything is over."

"No. What I mean is that I do want the other stockholders to sign their portion back as per the agreement. I just want you to keep your 51% and probably let Ros keep a couple."

"You want me to keep it?" She pointed her fork at herself. By now, both of their plates were cleared and there were a few rib bones along with other leftovers for Taco.

"Yes, why are you acting so surprised?"

Taco shifted beneath the table so he had a body part on each of their feet. He was bored and would be snoring in a matter of minutes if he wasn't summoned any time soon.

"I'm not acting! I am surprised! Shocked, even."

"We can talk about this tomorrow, after we give our statements. You need to eat your pills before you forget."

"I'm not going to get infected now, the dressing is always dry so that means my would is healed." Christian stood up with their empty plates and studiously ignored her whine. He smirked when she still got up and headed to their bathroom where her antibiotics were. They were kept on her night stand.

"As a doctor, you should know what they're supposed to do," he reasoned lightly with her as she walked back into the kitchen searching for water to down the pills.

"As a doctor, I also happen to know that we sometimes like to prescribe unnecessary drugs to a patient; medicine that would do them no good or more harm than good because they insisted on a heavy dosage. In this case, I think I'm perfectly fine without taking antibiotics."

Christian hummed but still watched her took the pill.

"I'm sure your mother has cancelled a few of your prescriptions here or there when you were sick. Drugs aren't necessary all the time, but that's a common misconception among the general population."

Christian shrugged and returned to his chores. He never really got sick and even if he had, he would be tend to by his mother. Though, he had seen Grace told Mia to stop taking a prescription after learning what it was. She was the one that got sick more often than her brothers.

"I'm going to go shower," she declared, her palm smacked the table surface gently, but it still made Taco jump." You've been so devious lately that you get so jumpy," she teased the dog with a nudge to his gigantic body using the back of her foot after he laid back down.

"He's always afraid of getting caught red-handed."

"Nah, more like he can't wait to get caught for our attention. We all know that he was the one that moved our clothes away and dragged the boxes to the spare room."

Christian laughed, he turned around to watch the interaction between Taco and Anastasia in utter amusement; but at that moment, he couldn't feel more content and his chest warmed with felicity.

"Go shower, or I'm going to join you."

"Is that a threat I hear?"

"Maybe, now go! I'm tempted," he shooed at her. "I'm going to get the kit ready so I can check your wound later."

"I swear you just want an excuse to stare at my boobs and feel me up," she rolled her eyes and headed for the shower.

* * *

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**X**


	37. Another Troubled Kid

_**Another Troubled Kid**_

Technically, Anastasia wasn't allowed to shower but since she had already done it just after a month of recovery, she thought if it didn't get infected then when Christian literally used up the entire pack of cotton buds to make sure the wound was dry, and then another pack to disinfect it, she believed that it wouldn't happen this time either.

But, boy was she wrong.

"Christian, there's water coming out of it," she shoved her breast in his face, though she was intended to show him the wound.

"Are you the doctor or am I? With the way you charge at me panicking, I sincerely doubt your actual profession," he peered up through his thick lashes and leaned closer to give her nipple a teasing lick.

Just because she offered and it was right in front of his face.

"Christian!" She gasped, swatting his head away on instinct, but she was very turned on by that simple lick on her tit.

"It's pebbled," he smirked smugly.

"Stop lusting over my tits! Jesus, Christian."

"I warned you about showering and your stubborn ass didn't listen."

"It didn't happen in the hospital this morning."

"Why did you shower twice?"

"Just wanna scrub off the germs from the hospital."

"You and your mysophobia."

"I don't have that!" She protested loudly, stomping her foot.

Christian chortled. At least, she was comfortable with him to let her guards down and rely on him, even if it appeared clingy and coquettish; but, he loved it. He was enjoying the attention.

"Yeah, right," he snorted as he took out another cotton bud and dipped in the antiseptic. "We're running out of this thing," he told her as he tilted the small bottle to soak up the last bit of povidone iodine.

"That's because you use half a bottle each time. It was new this morning."

"I don't! I swear there was only half a bottle left when I got it this morning. Where do I buy them? Are they prescribed medicine?"

"No. They're the over-the-counter type. You really gotta use less of them. Seriously, there's no need for you to use two packs of those cotton swabs and an entire bottle of iodopovidone."

"You can't tell me what to do since you're a doctor and nurses clean wounds," he argued petulantly, throwing what she said two years ago in her face, though in a joking manner.

"You sure can hold a grudge, Mr Grey," she jested. "But, I was referring to injection not wound cleansing."

He shuddered at the idea of a needle, and he felt he could throw up all over her naked front if he continued down his line of thought.

"Hey, snap out of it!" She tapped his temple lightly to get his attention. She could sense that he was going down a different path and his actions had only proved that he was very much distracted.

"Sorry," he muttered as he gave her newly dressed wound a once over before capping everything and throwing away the rest.

He had been very unlike the Christian Grey she once knew and she wondered if she should ask him if he felt obliged to take care of her or if he had fired Gail since she hadn't stopped over once to tidy up after him.

"Are you coming to bed?" She climbed under the covers assisting him as he tucked her in after helping her into one of his t-shirts.

"Soon, I have to return that phone call to that detective," he kissed her cheeks and lastly, her forehead. However, she wanted a proper kiss on the lips. After all, that playful lick on his nipple had already crossed that invisible friendship line; it would be very inappropriate if they still remained friends.

That kind of talk would have to leave till tomorrow after the interview. She insisted that way because she believed that it was some kind of official closure to the whole incident since the beginning of the year. Also, she didn't want whatever happened to the two of them individually to influence their statements. She believed that if they learned the accounts on both sides, they would alter what they tell the detectives or omit crucial information, and this might negatively impact the whole investigation.

Still, she had no idea what they were actually investigating.

Anastasia didn't know when Christian came to bed last night, but she was woken up by his alarm.

"Why are you getting up so early?" She groaned, turning around to face him so she could cling onto him and bury her face in his chest as if it could block out the blaring alarm.

"_We_ have to get up early because _we_ are going to give our statements to the detectives this morning."

"Morning? Why? That's too early."

"I recall _someone_ saying that they want to get this over with as soon as possible?"

"Whoever that is, fuck them. What a bitch. They're out of their mind. What time is it anyway?"

"Eight."

"This is too early for a non-workday."

"You get up around this time during the weekends, too."

"I used to. That was before I started taking those damn pain meds."

"Why?"

"They're making me groggy."

"Bullshit!" Christian barked out a laugh. He knew firsthand what the pills were doing to her. "You stopped taking those pills."

"Withdrawals, then."

"Okay, get up, baby. You aren't fooling me. Do you want me to serve you breakfast in bed, feed you and then dress you?"

"That sounds perfect," she said dreamily.

He snickered. "Fine, don't go back to sleep! I'll go shower and make us food."

She hummed and hugged on his pillow, falling right back to sleep.

Christian laughed softly at her, shaking his head as he left for his shower, then to the kitchen.

…

In the meantime, a police car came to a halt in front of Elena's house. The house no longer appeared like a resident place for a Seattle socialite, much less a family home for a mother-son duo.

If anything, it looked abandoned.

"Isaac Lincoln?" The police rang the doorbell and pounded his fist on the door as he yelled.

There was no response.

He rounded to the side of the house and peaked through the windows, but there was nothing he could see because the blinds were drawn. Though, from what he could gather from a few sightings through the cracks, he could deduce that the house was empty.

"Isaac?" He tried again at the front door.

Again, there was no sound.

He reached for the doorknob and twisted it. He anticipated it to be locked, but it wasn't. That was when he realized that whoever left this place last had left in a hurry because it actually wasn't closed properly.

The back door had been left ajar and there were windows left open, the only reason the front door didn't open when he pounded on it was because it was slightly stuck as a result from being forced shut by a strong gust of wind.

He stepped inside. It didn't smell like a house that had been abandoned—the air was fresh. That was because the windows and the door were actually left open.

After he surveyed the entire house and made sure that it was empty with no trace of human habitation in at least the past few days, he walked back to his car and radioed back a brief report. If it was up to him, he would call for backup and have the house searched. They had the warrant for a few days now but it was never executed for some reasons unknown to him.

…

_Isaac limped down the slope of the jet bridge trying to blend in with the rest of the passenger and appeared like a normal teen coming over to visit a friend._

_He had only left this place about an year ago, and he could still remember the excitement he felt when he boarded the plane with Elena heading to his new home. They were flying first-class._

_Hence, he did the same when he booked the ticket back to this place. He flew first-class back and he would like to think of this as the last time he travelled out of this city. It didn't matter that this plane ticket had cost more than he had spent in the past year that he was in Seattle, because it wasn't his money. He took Elena's card._

_It wasn't lost on him that he had left in a rush that morning when he realized that it was just him in the house with no sight of his Mistress. He couldn't be more delighted at that discovery and immediately took whatever that he could take with him and left the place._

_On his way, people stared at him because he was limping, staggering and limping with as many bags as he could carry with his scrawny frame. He barely looked fifteen but he was actually legally able to obtain a driver's license._

_There was no one in Michigan that he knew of could help him but at least he had money, but with only a passport that was going to expire within a month. Though, for now, he thought Detroit was a good place to start over. He could go back to the Colliers and seek their help._

_He still had no idea what happened to Elena or where she was that morning but in the fear of running right into her as he left the house with her stuff, he never looked back as he rushed into a cab and ran off to the airport. He didn't even bother to leave a note or anything, and he was sure if Elena ever found him, he'd be in more trouble than he could ever be in._

_He knew that Detroit wasn't going to be far enough if Elena would trace him through her bank records and that fake account he used to have with Jack. It disappeared since the last time Elena met with Jack and he doubted that she had found out about that account for a minute, but she didn't. Still, he didn't have any time to take cash out or even stop at an ATM. Simply because he didn't know Elena's password, he was only able to buy the ticket because it was saved in her computer._

_Now that he was in Detroit, he couldn't even remember the address of the Colliers. He used to be so accustomed to the city and every streets around the foster homes, he never had to memorize the address of those houses._

_However, as he glanced around him and read the signs on the airport exit, he couldn't recognize any of them and he had only been away for a year. It only proved that it had been a year too long. He had no means of communication, only money and a passport that had his last name as Lincoln. He knew that today was the Fourth of July and he knew that there would be a firework show near the Collier's house. He could see them in their garden because it was very far away._

_For now, he thought he could just go to a hotel first and actually rest a little to gather his thoughts._

_He walked around near the airport and decided to try his luck with a cab to take him to the city center. He had hoped that he would be able to figure out his next step there._

_Luckily for him, the cab that he took accepted the debit card that he didn't realize he had. Since he used her credit card to purchase his plane ticket. However, as he sat in the cab he started to consider the next problem at hand. He was only sixteen years old, and was allowed to fly alone but he wasn't sure if he was allowed to rent a hotel room._

_After he thanked the taxi driver, he took off to the fanciest hotel that he could see in sight. He was in the city center anyway, so everything should be around. He didn't bother trying to figure out where he actually was and which direction would be the Collier's house, he just needed to get the luggages he was carrying sorted._

_"I'm sorry, sir, the minimum age of booking a hotel reservation in the city of Detroit is seventeen," the manager behind the counter told him as he handed the passport back to the young boy who didn't even look the age of fifteen._

_He huffed and walked away from the hotel lobby. When he turned back one last time to glance at the manager who was now talking with the woman behind the receptionist counter, he only prayed that they didn't call the authority to report his suspicious behavior. They had turned him away but he didn't need them to feign concern over his disheveled appearance._

_He was richer than they think but he wasn't sure that people in a hotel as prestigious as one with a room that cost four-hundred dollars a night would actually allow bribery._

_Isaac never really trusted anyone but he really didn't have any reason to not trust the authority at the moment. However, perhaps turning to the police at the moment may be his best choice if he couldn't find a hotel that could accept him or his money._

_Fortunately, he did. That was how he was able to settle in a motel with a more than decent hygiene rating._

_As he dug through the luggages that he had carried with himself all the way from Seattle, he realized that he had brought a shitload of crap, and he really needed to get rid of stuff and probably upgrade whatever he could while Elena's debit card still worked. Her credit card was already useless in his possession right now since he didn't know the pin; but, he didn't need the password to use her debit card in small amounts._

That was four weeks ago, though.

…

_Two weeks later, he found himself wondering down the busy streets of the city of Detroit, the place it was leading him to was oddly familiar and he couldn't help but continue down that path. He knew for a fact that he could still use that debit card and he still had money in them because when he checked out and checked back in a few days ago, they told him that he could still make payments with it._

_With no physical baggage, he made his way down the block and followed his gut intuition and made a turn around the corner. He found himself in a neighborhood that had brought back memories for him._

_They were a little grainy and distant. It must be one of the foster homes that he had been to, though definitely not the Colliers since he only left that place a year ago._

_He was starting to get more familiar around the city, starting from the city center. The memories were all starting to flow back to him and when he asked for a map from the front desk one morning, he was finally able to pinpoint some of the places that he was certain he had been to before; some of the names were very familiar to him._

_And, he had set out a goal to visit them all. As long as Elena's card still had money and wasn't cancelled, he was probably the richest kid around this town._

When he finally wandered back to the place where the Colliers resided, or still resides, he noticed that nothing much had changed. Nonetheless, it took him an entire month to finally come back to this place that probably held more memorably memories than any other foster homes.

That was when he remembered the man that had promised to help him, the man that had visited him almost twice a week when he was still in that foster home. Now, there was no means to find Jack.

Isaac was getting antsy with each passing day. He had no idea when the bank card would be frozen once it was reported to be missing, or when someone found out that this card had been stolen. He also had no idea how much money he had left since he didn't know the password so he couldn't check. He really needed to find someone who could help and he thought Jack could still lend him a hand.

So, one day, he bulked up the courage and knocked on the front door of the Collier's.

It opened.

When he came face to face with the kind woman that would bake pies for them every once a while, and the woman who had the kindest eyes he could remember before he happily skipped out of this heavenly place into a shit hole that he thought was his safe haven. Sure, he had a much more luxurious life and more money to spend, but that domestic life was literally hell. Worse than having to share his toys with the other brats in this house.

He almost chickened out and swallowed back his request.

"Hi," he choked a little on his own spit out of nervousness.

"Isaac?" Mrs Collier smiled warmly at the boy who only appeared taller but scrawnier. "Oh, come on in, boy."

"No, it's okay," he declined with a smile but it was too forced. "I just want to ask if you are still in contact with Jack."

"Jack Hyde?"

Isaac nodded. He didn't want to tell this woman his troubles because she had done too much for him already, and he knew they were already at the end of their fostering career. He could see that they didn't have as many kids in their household as they used to.

"Yes, I think so. If he hasn't changed it."

"Can I have it? I haven't been in contact with him for a long time and I'd like to get back in touch with him."

"Oh, sure. Do you want to come wait inside while I fetch it?"

"I can just wait by the door," he declined politely, again.

Mrs Collier disappeared and reappeared quickly, handing him a slip of paper.

Isaac thanked her and hurried away, he headed to the address on the paper and knocked on the door in one fluid motion before his mind could even register what he was doing. He really wasn't sure what he was actually doing or what he was going to say to whoever opened to door.

However, it was Jack on the other side.

"What are you doing here?" He asked him before Isaac could get a word out of his mouth. The young boy was immediately taken aback by the harsh tone in his voice.

"Well, hello to you too," Isaac remarked dryly. "I need you to reopen my account. I know you've closed it."

Jack barked out a laugh.

"Oh, kid. Guess I forgot about that," he opened the door wider and invited the young teen in. "You do know that you can't have an account of your own, right?"

"I have to be at least eighteen," he groaned with an eye roll in response. "I knew it," he mumbled under his own breath. "Then, can you check how much does Elena has in her debit card?"

"Elena?" Jack bellowed out in a funny voice. "Boy, do you know where your precious Mistress is?"

Isaac didn't have time to figure out what was wrong with that question because he was really confused with Jack's reaction, and his first reaction was actually fear; fear that Elena was actually in Detroit, and in Jack's house. His brain then stopped processing once he believed that he had deciphered the older man's underlying meaning.

"She's dead!"

Isaac's pale face slowly returned color but it was still frozen in the same expression, with his mouth agape.

"Man, you should've seen your face!" Jack roared with laughter, then turned his focus back to the computer before him.

"What?" Isaac heaved out a long sigh of relief to know that at least he wouldn't get another hiding from that cunt in his life time.

"She's dead! Shot in the head after attempting to murder Grey."

"When?"

"Fourth of July," he hummed lightly and nonchalantly.

"She's dead…" Isaac tested the words in his tongue and he felt relieved. He liked this announcement.

"Do you know what this implies though?"

"No?"

"You left the same day she left the house and murdered the man. Which means, police are coming after you."

Isaac blanched again.

"Don't panic boy," Jack consoled. "I'll help you."

"Do I run?" It was funny how Isaac didn't even stop to ponder why the police would be after him. The first thought he had was that he was in trouble with the authority for being associated with Elena and would be questioned, or arrested, or face whatever penalty. He thought he would be convicted even though he was the victim, but that wasn't how his thought process worked.

"No, because if you do, it'll be too obvious and you're going to leave bread crumbs everywhere. You should stop using her card, though. Just so it makes it hard for people to trace you."

"But the motel still allows me to use that card."

"Of course a motel will let you use it. As long as it's valid and has money inside, motels really don't care who this card belongs to."

Isaac accepted that explanation and waited for Jack to check the debit card balance for him and also to reopen the account for him.

"Your account will have to be connected to mine until you're eighteen," Jack informed him as he pointed out on the screen.

Isaac nodded and thanked him after noting down the necessary information, like Elena's bank card password, which Jack got after some hacking and law breaking.

However, what the teenager didn't know was that Jack packed his shit up and fled this country the moment Isaac was back in the hotel. He was now on his way to somewhere outside of the States, preferably a country where they'd appreciate his talents with computer. He chose his final destination in South Asia, at the Golden Triangle. He was sure that those dealers in Indochina would appreciate his help in making their lives easier. Though, he was going to go through South America first. In case Isaac spilled the beans about him.

Jack fled along with Isaac's so-called bank account, he was only decent enough to not drain Elena's debit card.

What the teenager didn't _expect_ was to find the policemen outside of his hotel room not two days later.

He broke out into cold beads of sweat only to be informed that his attendance was required because he was now considered an orphan, but also Elena's next of kin since he was her only relative.

"Am I going to go back to the system?"

"Unfortunately, yes. A social worker will be with you later."

He followed the police out and never even had the chance to clear the bill with the front desk to ensure that he still had money to use. Then, he remembered that he still had money in another account linked to Jack's.

"Do you know a Jack Hyde, Isaac?" A policeman asked him once they were settled in a police car and speeding down the busy street of the motor city. If he thought he had a plan for his life, they were all shattered the instant the police tracked him down.

"Yes," he answered truthfully, hoping that his honesty would make them release him sooner. He didn't know that he wasn't tracked down because he had been using Elena's card without her presence or consent, or that he had committed some sort of crime even when he didn't; he just thought that if the police came to him, then he must be in trouble.

At least, that was what he always believed.

"Do you know where he is?"

"Here, in Detroit," Isaac replied truthfully. It was true a few days ago when he met with him.

"He wasn't in his house when we went searching for him yesterday. His house doesn't appear to be a place where anyone currently resides in."

"Oh," was all Isaac could say in response. "Then, I really don't know. I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, kid."

"Why are you looking for him?"

"Do you know about his dealings with Mrs Lincoln? Your adoptive mother."

"She's not my adoptive mother!" Isaac said haughtily. "You call that old cunt my mother? Are you out of your fucking mind? Who fucks their so-called son? Adoptive or not!"

The Detroit police was trying to maintain their neutral stance, but that revelation was just too serious to ignore. This wasn't what they were seeking him for, but it seemed like he was just leading to a greater case.

It was more than clear that this boy needed to return to Seattle. His presence was more than required with this case, other than being Elena's only living relative but more about being her abused victim.

They weren't given much information from the Seattle PD but they were going to send this kid back.

…

"… I didn't have depression. I swear, I didn't want to commit suicide and I was going to use that footstep sound as a distraction to get down and attack her, but I slipped and the stool fell, so my neck ended up in that noose."

Anastasia cringed and winced all throughout his statement. Him recalling the moments before she found him was the worst story she had ever heard, even worse than when she actually saw him in person.

"Taco was the one that made the footstep sound, but I was downstairs reading the letters. I shouldn't have done it and should've just followed our dog, but I didn't know what to expect when I entered the apartment. I just thought something felt off and I was going to go to his bedroom to check on him and then sneak away. Then, Taco started barking. So, I knew something was definitely wrong…" she continued to recount the night that her world nearly came crashing down in front of her.

Christian now knew that what he had witnessed with her falling on top of him with a bullet in her chest and blood just oozing out of her like they were wasted was going to haunt him forever, he could totally relate to what Anastasia had seen. He had read that people who hung themselves didn't have the best facial expression, in fact, they looked really scary and haunting. He thought it already killed him to see her fall from a gunshot, it must be worse to have to remain rational and perform CPR and first aid on her beloved.

However, they both knew that they shouldn't be putting too much thought on the content of each other's statements because the most revealing details would be unveiled to one another later in private, and that would be the more shocking revelation. It would be better to leave their reactions to when they could piece the entire story together.

The FBI detectives left as soon as their statements were given. It was still early in the morning, so Anastasia decided to start questioning Christian and start their long over-due talk.

"Did you ask them to come this early?" That was not what she had wanted to ask but it just invaded her mind and interrupted her thought last minute.

"Yes," he admitted. "I know that you want to talk to me about everything, and we do need to talk but you won't do that until we give out statements."

"You think so, too?"

"No, I don't think that our talk would make those police interviews any different, but I know you think that. So, I asked them to come as early as possible. So, now, nothing is stopping you. Start firing off your questions."

"Do you feel obliged to take care of me?"

"Why do you ask that?"

"Answer me, is that why you asked me to stay with you? Because you think you should pay me back for taking that bullet for you? Or, is that why you've never asked Gail to stop around and you're doing all the domestic work yourself. Cooking, cleaning and also taking care of me."

"What do you want me to say?"

"I just want to know why. Your intentions, so to speak."

"My intentions?"

"I don't know why you're doing what you're doing. I know you claim that you still have feelings for me but I guess… it's me questioning whether those feelings stemmed from the events that played out after you started intense therapy and that very last confrontation with Elena… or still the pure sentiment from before all of the drama."

"You want to know if my feelings for you are some sort of twisted way of expressing my appreciation of what you've done for me and my company in the past seven months?"

She nodded. "Hence I asked, if you felt obliged to return the favor or pay me back, for a lack of a better term, by living with me, staying with me and taking care of me so diligently." She waved her hand around and stared at her lap.

"I don't know _how_ you can feel so insecure when I should be the one to fear that you might want to run away from me after all of the drama that I've encased upon you."

"I guess that's because I'm too emotionally attached to you, or because my attachment was too deep and still is that I don't want to make the same choice that I've made four years ago… I am at the same point that I was four years ago, but we are not."

Anastasia's ramble did nothing to put Christian's jumpy heart at ease, in fact, it only bought it to his throat.

"What are you trying to say?"

"That depends on your answer to my question. I really want the both of us to reflect on the last four years of our lives; together and individually. No pressure, I just want you to be totally honest with me."

That very last sentence brought his constricting heart back to his throat. He felt like he could puke it out any second. It was a different type of anxiety that he was feeling than when he was faced with a needle; completely different. He felt like his life was dependent on what he was about to speak next.

"Christian, just be honest," Anastasia encouraged, but the walls were already starting to close around him.

He could feel himself getting worked up when she hadn't even told him what exactly she would do after he answered. He now knew why she asked him those soul-searching questions, but this claustrophobic anxiety wasn't vanishing like it used to when his rational mind started to take over. It was like it had its own mind and only developed but never de-develop.

He couldn't hear her voice anymore, even when she was nearly in his lap. That was until his entire focus and thought process was interrupted by furs.

He blinked a few times, and finally registered that Taco had jumped on to the couch in between him and Anastasia, successfully separating them.

When the dog had noticed that Christian's breathing had changed and become more even, he extended his front paws to Christian's lap and laid his head down on Christian's stomach, with his hind legs and tail resting in Anastasia's lap.

That was his favorite resting position—laying in between his two favorite people.

Anastasia schooled in her painful expression that was hidden behind Taco's grand torso, and breathed out when he finally removed his ass and his sharp leg joints from digging into her thighs and calves. His tail was a much more comfortable companion compared to his bony legs, despite being covered in fur.

Although, when his tail wagged, she swore there was nothing furry because a slap from that tail hurt like a bitch.

"Are you okay?" She reached over their humongous pet to touch his arm.

"Yeah…" he wasn't given too much time to actually think about how he felt because one of their phone was ringing.

"I think that's your phone," she peered sideways at the rather empty coffee table before the couch that they were curling on, face to face.

He leaned forward, careful of Taco's lazy head, and grabbed both of their phones. None of them voiced their surprise when they found out that their ringing tone never changed in the four years apart. One night, for fun, they changed their regular ringing tones to the same tune, and they both thought the other would change it once the day was over; but none of them did… for four entire years.

Her phone was now buried in Taco's furry stomach, and the dog was so content that he didn't even jump up when one of them shifted slightly to adjust their posture, or leaned around to reach for things. Her phone didn't even fall off of the couch.

"It's Taylor," Christian put the phone on the speaker and laid it on Taco's body, aware of his thick coat that might swallow up the devise.

"Hey Taylor," Anastasia made her presence known.

"Ana," he acknowledged. "I just got a call from my men in the Detroit PD, and he just reported that they are unable to locate Jack Hyde, however they have been able to track down Isaac."

"Isaac's in Michigan?"

"He left the same day Elena was shot."

"Why Detroit?"

"That's where he's from," Christian inputted this time.

"Oh, so what are they going to do?" She continued to question.

"They are going to send him back, and hopefully we can get more information from him regarding the whole incident."

"Okay… wait," Anastasia paused and her entire face fell stern. "Who the fuck dropped their fucking ball, Jason Taylor? Because I swear _someone_ told me there were coverts on Elena. Both from us and the FBI. So, how did the night at Escala happen with no one knowing that she had a fucking gun?"

"Coverts aren't able to enter her salon with her," Taylor explained meekly but that was also a mystery to him.

"Oh, then what about how she got in?" Anastasia snapped.

"The FBI might've interfered."

"Then, did any of you know about Jack Hyde?"

"We didn't, but the FBI claims that they do."

"And, no one thought to intervene?" Anastasia demanded. "Was this supposed to be a bait?"

"We are still communicating with the FBIs."

"Okay, keep us posted, then," Anastasia softened her tone. She had a feeling that the FBI had failed them because they were supposed to use Christian to goad her but that didn't go as planned, and gone out of hand in the end.

Christian visibly flinched at her outburst earlier. Though, with the way she had taken initiative to lead the conversation and yell at staff on his payroll only confirmed Christian's belief that she was now too incorporated into his life that he had to keep her no matter what she said about them.

He just needed her.

At least, he could still prolong the transition period to execute his charm and finally persuade her that his intentions were pure and innocent; just a guy wanting to spend the rest of his life with the love of his life.

* * *

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**Happy New Year everyone!**

**X**


	38. Starting Over Together

_**Starting Over Together**_

Their talk was paused subsequently after Taylor's call, and they moved on to preparing lunch. Although, Christian still forbade her from doing much but she was able to to some simple cutting and other light works, leaving all the heavy stuff for him. She even managed to cook a dish, even though it was under the tight scrutiny of Christian Grey, who would yell at her for even thinking about picking up the pan, even with two hands. He said the frying pan was too heavy for her, and he wouldn't even let her carry the oven tray even if there was empty.

Anastasia didn't know whether to feel suffocated or amused by his overprotection and overreaction about everything she was doing.

At last, they were finally able to sit down for their meal. Taco, like every meal, sat next to the table, and as close to the dishes as possible. He would even nudge their arms away as if they were blocking his perfect view to the food on the plates.

"We'll go see Isaac and talk more?" He asked, checking their agenda after lunch.

"What are we doing after lunch, then?"

"Tidy up," he deadpanned.

"After that?"

"I need to check in with Ros."

"Okay, then maybe I should think about my career."

Christian sighed, swallowing back an apology that was surfacing. They agreed to talk later, so he wasn't going to bring it up.

Taco moved under the table sensing the atmosphere growing heavier, and more importantly, there was no food coming his way any time soon.

He jumped up when the couple shifted in their seats and moved their legs a little. Taco emerged from beneath the table making his presence known, as if to remind them that he still had a stomach to fill; but, none of them had any time to pay him any attention as they ate their lunch in silence.

When Christian loaded their dishwasher, she headed to their bedroom. She knew that he would have work to do, and she wasn't expecting anything less. Though, that only reminded her that she needed to reconsider her career.

At this point in her life, she had very minimal saving, with no apartment of her own and no car to drive; she truly felt like all of her previous efforts to fight for and secure an independent life had been fruitless. Possibly due to her impulsive decision to sell everything and use them for Christian, even though she was sure that José had found it absurd and inconvenient that she insisted on paying the insignificant portion, when he could've easily covered all.

"Your boyfriend's company is _thriving_!"

Anastasia had no idea what her best friend was talking about at the moment. She had picked up a call from Kate at some point during her reflection of the decisions that she had made in the past four years. She didn't even know what they were talking about, but she knew that they had been communicating without a glitch.

"He hasn't even gone back to work full-time."

"But, apparently, people realized their mistakes and realized that they've all misjudged him."

"You now as well as I do that public opinions don't change with a snap of your fingers; and even if they do, people never act on it."

"Oh, but this time is different. I guess my articles worked."

"Admit it, Kate, you just want to gloat on your success."

"I published those articles anonymously, Steele. I didn't take any credits from its success. No one knows that I am Kaetlyn. Still, in the end, it worked!"

"Secrets don't stay hidden forever, Kate. Especially in journalism and the media world. I thought you told me that's a general rule."

"It is, but we'll see when someone exposes me. I'm not coming out on my own."

"Whatever. How's everything?"

"You want to ask about Malcolm, I know; stop hiding. We're still going strong, do you want to hear the latest scene?"

"Kate, I'm horny as fuck right now, and it's not helping that I'm living with Christian. So, please don't give me any kind of imagery that will only make me think of porn."

"You're not cleared for sex?"

"Not for another month. I have to wait two months to go back and check because my breast tissues are damaged."

"But, can't you do other things?"

"Even if I can, Christian will think he's going to hurt me accidentally if he gets carried away."

"How much have you two talked about? If you're ready to move on to having sex with him."

"We haven't talked, at all. Started it but got interrupted. I'm just horny these days around him, and alone with him, so I'm imagining a lot of things; like that excuse I just gave you which came from my imagination."

"Then, maybe we should talk about something else. Like, what are you going to do once you're fully recovered?"

"I don't know. I'd like to get back to work and everything, but I don't dare plan anything in detail because nothing goes according to plan and life won't stick to that plan without a hitch."

"Wise woman… seems like the events in the recent years has you viewing life from a different angle."

"They certainly has put things into perspective for me. But, now I'm lost as ever!"

"Maybe you should start with what you want to do with your personal life? Do you want to stay with Christian? That's like the basic."

"Yes, I do. I mean, I have tasted my own medicine when I made the decision to break up with him all those years ago."

"Then, professionally, what do you have in mind?"

"Return to work."

"As a doctor or as a researcher?"

"Both, but I don't know if I want to stay in Seattle, because it hasn't been holding pleasant memories for me since I left for Baltimore. I feel like I'm a guest in this city now, and I used to feel so at home."

"Where do you think your home is then?"

"I'd probably change my answer after talking to Christian, but right now, the East Coast. Baltimore has more of a brighter memory than here."

"Then, I think maybe you should decide your future with Christian together. Just consider everything before making a final decision."

"Yeah… thank you for making me think logically, Kate. It's been really helpful."

…

Christian walked into the bedroom after talking to Ros extensively over the phone in the guest room to find Anastasia laying on her back with her feet up against the tall headboard, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

They still had a couple of hours before they were expected at the police station to meet Isaac, and he wanted to talk to her, to address some of the more urgent issues—like what their plans for their near future looked like.

He was pensive about interrupting her, but he guessed that she had probably sensed his presence, because she spoke first.

"You want to talk?"

"Yes, I want to know what you have in mind about our next step. Or, maybe just yours." He came over and took a seat at the edge of the bed, and laid down so their heads met in the middle of the bed.

"Do you want to stay with me?"

"Yes."

"Are you staying in Seattle?"

"Yes." Again, he didn't elaborate, he wanted to hear what she wanted to say without disrupting her thoughts.

"How long do you plan on staying in this condo?"

"Until we can find a permanent settlement."

"I don't know how long I can suppress my guilty conscience for living here knowing who it belongs to."

"Baby, perhaps you don't understand it thoroughly. Them," he was referring to the Rodriguez, "helping us, and spending money on us, is like a heavy investment. What they're getting out in return may not be in monetary terms but more in a way that we have a bond or a long-term working relationship. All we have to do is to reach out and help them in their times of need and help with favors they asked to the best of our abilities. We don't necessarily have to go out of our way as they didn't either to help us. What they've spent on us was nothing to them considering that they gained our friendship, which could be much more valuable sometimes than having cash paid back. Trust me, money is the last thing José Sr needs right now."

"So, how long are you planning on staying here? Living in this apartment rent free," she asked after a while to let his speech sink in. It did little to nothing to sooth her conscience but she knew if she was going to stay with him, then she should start to make peace with her guilty conscience… just like she needed to probably accept the Greys' efforts to make amends with her.

That was if she wasn't getting ahead of herself, and they would actually bother.

"Until my company gets back on track so we can afford a house of our own."

"Have you… considered moving to somewhere that is not Seattle?"

"No. Does this city makes you feel uncomfortable?" He inquired after shaking his head negative in slow motion. "I mean, I can understand that the past half a year has been beyond stressful for you, because of my selfish need to keep everything. Maybe you finding me the way you did on the Fourth of July has traumatized you. What am I saying, it most definitely would."

"It doesn't make me uncomfortable, per se. But, aren't you kind of haunted by the memories and the history that Seattle represents?"

"I am only haunted by Escala. I won't be going back _there_, but the city… I still find solace in this city. Why do you ask? Do you want to move away?"

"I guess I can understand where you're coming from. You have been in Seattle despite your name being in the limelight. Maybe to you, this whole storm only led you to become stronger under the protection of your physical shell you've surrounded yourself with."

Christian stared at the side of her face and studied her features carefully, he had already anticipated this topic might come into their conversation at one point. He wanted to tell her that she shouldn't be running away from her demons, but on second thought, who was he to judge her? This woman shielded him from the fucking tsunami that was the scandal and kept him unharmed.

So, he guessed all he was asking was some time so he could be prepared to move. Still, he wanted to try and persuade her first.

Some might deem this selfish, but he thought this was only exploring all of the options.

Time was the only essence absent for her to come to terms with the city, and she might change her mind about it in the future, but Christian was still open to the idea of moving around once his company had become stabler.

"To me, it's just that, I used to feel so at home here. So at ease and peaceful," she stared at the light brown ceiling, unblinking as she voiced her true feelings in the utmost honesty. "But, over the four years that I was in Maryland, each time I returned ended up in a disaster. I hope it was just me enlarging those bad memories, but what foregrounds in my mind are always memories of me flying back for you only to find you in an accident, or that you aren't even in Seattle; or to sign on your will. You know that if it wasn't for you, there is no reason for me to make trips back so frequently. My parents live in their own bubble and Ethan has his own life."

She scoffed out all of her pent up frustrations, twisting her head slightly so she couldn't see him in her peripheral. The more she vented the more she could feel her emotions rising from deep within her.

"Now I really feel like a guest here. Maybe it was because of the fact that you're no longer Seattle's elite bachelor or I'm no longer your girlfriend, because when I stepped into Grey House, I felt so foreign like I was just another stupid, lost college graduate wannabe that wanted to snatch a piece of GEH. That ay perhaps be the trigger of those distant feelings. Then, when I failed to come back from Baltimore for your birthday, I was trying to convince myself that with your lack of response to my text, I had been too forward; and, maybe you don't want me there. I really was convinced until I saw your death note, the one addressed to me. That was when I knew that I was wrong about you, but that also subconsciously made me believe that I might need to get out of Seattle for a while because all I could recollect about this place was gray and suffocating; and Maryland is always sunny and bright like paradise."

She didn't know that she was shedding tears until she was jumped started by his thumb brushing lightly against the corner of her eye to wipe the tear stain dry. She turned her head in his direction, only then finding out that they were extremely close, the tip of their nose almost brushed against each other's.

Christian didn't say anything but only ran his hand over her hair continuously as he thought about her words. He couldn't come up with a response at the moment. All he could get out was the fact that she didn't wish to remain.

Instead of panicking like he would in the past, he forced himself to stay calm and think twice before speaking, not jumping to conclusions. The problem was, it was just not an option for him to leave Seattle at the moment.

"Where do you want to relocate to?" He settled on asking. It was needless to share his perspectives regarding the misunderstanding on his birthday. He now knew that it was her wish to attend but something must've detained her, and that was all he needed to know.

"Baltimore, Maryland." Her reply came out in a whisper as those glossy blue orbs stared into his gray ones.

He nodded indicating that he had heard her, not that he was exactly happy to hear the answer.

"Can we compromise?" He requested, shocking the both of them.

She held his imploring gaze apprehensively and nodded her head, biting her lip nervously at what awaits her.

"Can you give me a few years until I get back on my feet and my company is stable enough for me to leave Seattle, and we will move to the East Coast."

"How long is a few years?" She questioned tentatively. She wouldn't dare make a judgment about how long it might take him to get back on track because she knew if he could've become a billionaire a year ago if not for everything, then she was confident that he could find a way to stand back on his feet and reclaim the title of the prince of Seattle and the most accomplished businessman of the decade.

"I will give you a definite answer once I return to the office and examine everything. You will have a number to work with after my evaluation. I will get this to you within the first week upon my return full-time."

He vowed, and she believed him. He had never broken his promise to her, so there really was no reason for her to not trust him to keep his words this time.

"Okay, I can live with that."

He smiled, and slowly, she mirrored his expression. Shifting up, he captured her lips in a short but promising lip-lock, sealing his promise to her.

"You can negotiate the time with me once you got it. Bottom line is, we are not separating, not doing long-distance, _ever_ again!"

She giggled softly at his brief display of mild insecurity. Then, she nodded, mutely.

"Good. As much as I'd like to continue this talk with you, we have to get going."

"Gotta finally meet the kid in person."

…

At the police station, they could see Taylor and Sawyer already arrived when they got out of the car. It still felt strange for Anastasia to not see someone next to Christian wherever he went. Thankfully, their new apartment was close to Escala, which wasn't going to be a problem when Christian eventually returned to work for have Taylor pick him up.

On the way, they passed Pike Place Market, and it brought back all kinds of fresh memories to her, it made her think of the time when they planned to spend a Christmas together here only to end up in Baltimore. It still turned out to be one of the best Christmases that she had had but she could still remember their very first official date here.

They never got the chance to recreate those scenes like they wished.

Fortunately for them now, they were now living really close to Pike Place—anytime they had spare could be the perfect opportunity for them to mingle in the market place once again, recreating their adventures on their very first date. The part where they were dodging everyone's camera phone was still vividly imprinted in her mind. She could still remember Christian actually posing for some of them or join her in a picture bomb for some couple.

That was some old times that she truly missed.

They walked into the room where Isaac was and saw him splayed out on the couch in the room that was actually meant for visitors.

"Why are you keeping him in police custody?" Anastasia couldn't help but ask when she saw the condition of the room. It was the summer so with the cooler, the room felt nice, but it was a simple visitor's room, and she couldn't imagine where the kid would actually be staying at. "He's not done anything wrong."

"Then, where do you propose we keep him, young lady?" An officer mocked, leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed before his chest, smirking arrogantly at the couple.

"I'd say treat him to a hotel room, since it is you all that failed him in the first place." She was ticked by the tone and overall stance of that man, and it bothered her.

"Us?" He scoffed loudly at Anastasia's snarky response. "Oh, and what did you think we should've done?"

Anastasia huffed and turned around, ignoring the man when Christian tugged on her elbow suggesting that she ignore him since he really wasn't worth a fight over. He knew the Seattle PD wasn't the only corrupted police department in the United States of America, because he had experienced firsthand how those people could be like in Detroit.

Her temper was the only thing that troubled him, though. She wasn't like the kind of person to quibble over insignificant details, at least the girl in his memories wouldn't.

"Isaac, your visitors," the officer announced with an eye roll and closed the door behind the four of them. Anastasia really hated his attitude.

"Is she the one that wants to see me?" Isaac nodded at Anastasia. He had threw his feet up on the small table before him and a cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth. He appeared nothing like a sixteen year old kid that got abused, but rather a juvenile delinquent.

Everyone looked at one another in confusion at his question.

"If you are the one that wants to see me, you really don't need to have a hoard of bodyguards following her. I'm not some juvie," he puffed out a smoke and flicked the ashes on to the floor.

The couple couldn't help but cringe at the smell of it given that both of them hated it when people smoke around them. However, they couldn't stay in a non-smoke environment everywhere they went.

"What makes you think it's just me?"

He shrugged but didn't speak.

"I'm not the only one here to see you," Anastasia answered, biting the bullet knowing that she probably would be deemed like a fool in juvenile standard at the moment.

"What do you want from me? I've got nothing. They took my card."

"Your card?" Christian spoke.

Isaac rolled his eyes and tossed out the cigarette butt somewhere in the room, smoke still coming out of it as it burned till the end. He moved to sit up so he could free up a seat or two on the couch. Opposite of it was another identical couch that was empty.

"Have a seat, strangers," he moved to the corner and gestured to the rest around the room. Taylor and Sawyer moved to take a seat at the couch opposite of him, and Anastasia moved to sit at the other end of the same couch as Isaac, while Christian pulled another table stool that was unoccupied by his feet and perched on it.

When no one spoke in the room, he surveyed all four of them once again before leaning forward to pick up the pack of cigarettes lying on the ground next to the sofa. Then, picked up the lighter. He then placed it in between his teeth and wrapped his lips around it, bringing the lighter to the tip, he lit the tip as he inhaled at the butt. Once he saw the red spark, he pulled the lighter away and breathed in through his nose to take another pull at the cigarette before taking its entirety out of his mouth using his index and middle fingers.

"What do you all want? If you want an inquisition, get on with it. Look, I don't know any of you and I don't have any prospect in life right now. All that I have has been taken away by your guys."

"Our guys?" Christian and Anastasia frowned in unison. It wasn't like the other two men weren't allowed to talk or anything, but they prefer to observe while the couple interacted with the young boy.

"Aren't you with the police or some kind of authority?"

"No, we're not," Anastasia answered flatly. "Does the name Christian Grey ring a bell to you?"

"Sure, it does." He may appeared nonchalant but for a nanosecond, he froze up and both security guards had seen it.

"Do you know him?" Christian asked in a third person's perspective.

"Not in person. I've never seen the dude but apparently Elena and Jack has some kind of obsession over the guy."

"What kinds of obsession?" The couple shared a glance before Anastasia continued.

"Listen, lady, I don't give a rat shit about Grey, or whoever he may be. It really doesn't concern me that the cunt and her side kick holds some kind of grudge against this dude, and I really couldn't care less about everything."

"Then, what's your problem?" She countered, she thought it must be relieving for him to swear aloud like that without someone always looming over him.

"Why do you care?" He snorted rudely. "Wait, are you a social worker?"

"Me?" Anastasia squeaked. "Do I look like one?"

Isaac shrugged again. "Doesn't matter."

"Well, I'm not, but I'd still like to know more about you."

"Me?" He mimicked her earlier reaction.

"Yes, you," Anastasia bit back a giggle. "Where were you in the past four weeks?"

"Do you want me to go back to her?"

"Elena's dead," she was going to add a term of endearment but she didn't know what Elena would call him so she was afraid that she might trigger some kind of bad memories for him.

"So I've heard."

"But you don't believe it."

"For all I know, she might be behind all of this."

"You think she orchestrated all of this for what?"

"So, she can get me back because she found out that I've ran away."

"Honestly, kid," Christian spoke from the side. "She doesn't give a rat shit about you, either. The only reason she's adopted you is because people will not look too closely at what people do inside their own home. Since you're legally her son, no one will know what she's doing to you and if you are found out, it could be written off as a parent disciplining her son."

"You think this is called discipline?"

"Trust me, I know what you've been through."

Isaac rolled his eyes at that statement, obviously he didn't believe it.

"She used to do it to me when I was your age, kid," Christian confessed in an attempt to make him believe. "If you're not her son, then she'd be preying on other boys. Frankly, you're just that unlucky son of a bitch who got caught up in this whole fucked up mess."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm that Grey dude that you couldn't give a rat shit about, and I wouldn't want you to give a shit about me either. Elena used to do this exact same thing to me."

"Abuse you?"

"Yes, abuse me. I was her victim for six years."

"You're a dumb fuck."

"Yes, I am," Christian glanced at Anastasia and he was glad to see that she was amused, even though it was taking him a lot of self-control to not snap at that kid for being disrespectful. He had to remind himself that his idea of respect was nurtured by Elena, which was a sick and twisted standard to begin with, so he should get used to the norm. "I'm glad that you aren't. Anyway, she was losing control over me, so she is beginning to seek her new prey. For some reason, she found you."

"I think I know why. You're adopted right?"

"Yup."

"You were born in Detroit aren't you?"

"How did you know?"

"I eavesdrop when Elena talks with Grace," he dropped all formalities that he was 'taught' when he was under Elena's custody. He found it absolutely useless and it only makes him sound pretentious and fake; just like that blonde barbie bitch.

"So, you know about me but you don't know who I am?"

"I'm sure I've met you at some of those prestigious, wasteful parties but I wasn't allowed to look at people in their eyes or even look up from the ground. You should know this."

"I do," Christian nodded simply. It wasn't the same when he was with Elena, and he knew that. He wasn't brought around by Elena pretending that he was her kid. He only knew that it was alluding to BDSM.

"She found me in the Colliers, in Detroit."

"Who are the Colliers?" Anastasia asked when she saw a shadow of understanding flash across Christian's face.

"The same foster parents that Grace found me in," Christian answered. He, himself actually wasn't familiar with the name but he could only deduce that it was one of the foster parents that had fostered him when he was young.

"Jack and you were there at the same time."

"Jack?" At that moment, Elena's words surfaced. Christian finally understood what she meant by 'they knew each other since infancy', even though _infancy_ would be stretching it because he knew he must've been a toddler when he was at the Colliers.

"Yes, Jack Hyde. That bastard promised me money, taught me how to hack. I was so naïve to actually believe that he'd help me."

"What do you mean?"

"He visits me very often when I was in Detroit and told me that he's some kind of computer genius. Then, he demonstrated it by showing me how to mess with the security system of some poor shipyard in Maryland."

All four of them perked up at that.

_Could that be possible?_

"He said it was an international port so it isn't popular in America, and so he won't get in trouble and be found, and yada yada."

_That's it!_

The security breach was indeed just someone fucking with the system. Christian was now very certain of it, but Anastasia still hadn't completely connected the dots.

"Then, he told me that there's going to be this Elena woman coming to visit me and then adopt me and he also promised to teach me how to get money. That woman was nice before I was adopted. She asked about my studies, calls me often and kept up with all of my daily lives. Then, once I was adopted, it was like bam! Shot straight to hell."

"I can imagine," Christian mumbled.

"Are you sure that she's dead?"

"I shot her," Sawyer piped up offering the young kid some peace of mind for his sake. "Right through the skull, she's as good as dead."

Isaac stared at the two buzz-cut opposite of him. He knew that they were security officers for the couple, he had seen his fair share of those guys when he attended those events with Elena. He didn't know what they were for but he just knew what they were. He now finally believed that the wicked witch of the west was rotting somewhere, just not in this world.

"She got the easy way out," Sawyer admitted sheepishly, he was still beating himself over it. "I should've aimed somewhere different."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because she shot me at the same time," Anastasia stepped in. She never blamed anyone for her injury and this was the first time she had learned that Sawyer was feeling guilty about it. "They fired their guns at the same time, and I'm sure he just wants to get one step ahead of her and stop her from shooting me, but… they shot at the same time."

"Where'd you get shot?'

Anastasia pointed at where her heart was, that place still felt tender and she wouldn't be patting on it like some proud mama for a while.

"Ah… okay…"

"Either way," Christian interjected to stop Isaac from staring at Anastasia's chest. "She's dead, and we want to know-"

"What to do with me," he finished for him. It wasn't what Christian had in mind, but that also worked. After all, they were here to mainly see how he was doing and what he knew about Elena.

"Not what I was going for, but sure."

"Well, I was going to go back to Detroit and resettle there. Took Elena's debit card. Survived on it for a month now."

"When did you leave?"

"The same day she left for you two."

"Was this planned?"

"The shooting? I don't know. She got a gun a couple months before and I thought about using that thing to shoot her, but she has kept it well locked and hidden, so I've never found it. I know that the Fourth of July is supposed to be her hearing."

"It is."

"Yeah, so I gathered that she'll be out of the house for longer than normal, so I thought I'd just leave on that day. She'll be on her nerves anyway."

"She ambushed me in the middle of the night," Christian informed him.

"I left in the morning after I woke up. Shoulda bring more stuff with me if I knew that she's going to be dead."

"Kid, if you're going to use the card everywhere you go, you're really not going to stay out there by yourself for long, ya know? That's how they found you. They tracked the card to find you," Christian tipped.

"Yeah, well, that's some useless advice. Cuz I ain't making out of here any time soon. I'm going back to the system."

"You are?" Anastasia gasped.

"Yeah, little lady. What do you expect? I'm only sixteen. Jack took my money with him and ran like the coward he is."

"Where's he getting the money from?"

"Elena. He launders her money and takes a percentage as payment."

Isaac then talked about his life in the Lincoln household and what exactly he's been doing in Detroit these past four weeks. Then, Christian and Anastasia briefly explained him the mess. The only thing he seemed to care about was money, and he was like those disinterested troubled kids that couldn't focus on anything else other than the fact that he got betrayed and tricked in his entire life.

Though, unlike most kids who would retreat into a recluse and live in the corner by himself, he put on this fearless façade and acted like he didn't give a damn about anything. He spoke in a way like he was without a care to the world and everything around him.

"It was like he's totally succumbed to faith," Anastasia sighed once they were on their way home at the back seat of the SUV that Taylor was driving with Sawyer driving their car back.

However, Christian was still reeling in on the revelation about Jack's involvement.

Reeling in on the conversation about how they could help him. Anastasia wasn't the only one that wanted to help this teen desperately. It wasn't everyday that after you've been through everything, when realization struck, it was how lucky he had been because it could've been worse, but the fact that he had been lied to all his life!

* * *

**Thank you so much for the views and reviews!**

**X**


	39. Self-importance

_**Self-importance**_

When Isaac was asked what he'd like or want for his life, his answer was simple: truth and peace.

It was understandable.

When he was asked if he would considered being adopted again before the age of eighteen, all he did was shrug.

So, Anastasia immediately understood that when he said he didn't want anything other than that two, it really was _all_ he want.

It was just that simple.

"My parents could adopt him," Christian said out of the blue as the SUV cruised under the cloudy Seattle sky. It was still early in the afternoon and they weren't going to do anything other than talk about their relationship and lay out their plans for the future. They really just wanted to get it done within the next day or so.

"Absolutely not!" She didn't even turn her head away from the window, and there he thought she didn't hear him or wasn't listening to him.

"What?" His head spun around expecting to meet her heated gaze that matched her tone, but all he got to see was the side of her head—she hadn't moved a bit. "Why not?"

"They are incapable of handling a heavily traumatized youth," she said, still staring out the window.

His brows knitted together tighter as he leaned forward and closer to her, attempting to see her face, instead of just the side.

"They've adopted me," he said with a light scoff trying but failing a little to hide his annoyance, stating the obvious.

"And look at how that turned out. How successful has it been?" She retorted with a sardonic huff.

"It turned out pretty successful," he didn't get the rhetoric tone or the sarcasm.

"If it did, then we wouldn't be in the current situation, would we?"

"Are you blaming them for what happened to us? You broke up with me!" He exclaimed, clearly aware of how much he sounded like a soap opera actor. Notwithstanding that he had been living like a reality star for the past half a year, with his entire life in public just because he needed to justify himself to everyone irrelevant to him.

Now he had to explain the whole 'suicide by hanging' scene to the public, this was just _fantastic_!

"No, I'm not blaming anyone for our relationship, nor am I even talking about us!" Her head finally turned around, glaring at him sharply. "I am talking about the fact that not only are they gullible but also, frankly, really failed at being parents to a traumatic kid."

"And, you know all about being parents?" He shot back argumentatively, ready to defense his parents whom he still saw as his life savers.

"No, that is not what I'm saying," she sighed, sensing a very unnecessary and easily avoidable fight coming their way like an avalanche. "Let me rephrase it."

He stared at her hotly waiting to fire back at her next argument point.

"The day your will or contingency plan was activated, your parents came over to Escala," and she proceeded to relay the events of that day to him. "I guess, it's understandable that they call me bluff before I showed them the album, but they're still accusing me and pointing fingers at me after seeing the evidence right under their nose. Everything was crystal clear and they just refused to believe it! Elliot and Mia both vouched against Elena, saying that she's bad news, yet they still chose _her_! So, forgive me if I am more than a little wary of your parents' ability to offer Isaac a comfortable and secure home."

Christian stared at her agape after her impassioned speech. He didn't know how to react to it or what expression to put on display, his current dumbfounded one would probably suffice for the tie being.

"I'm sorry," she apologized softly, breaking away from their eye contact. He didn't know that she held his gaze until he missed the blue orbs before his vision. He honestly didn't even know if he had been understanding the words until her apology.

"I honestly don't know you feel this strongly against my parents…"

"It's not about how much… I dislike them… or how many disagreements we've had, or my opinion of your parents. It's about… what's good for Isaac."

"My mother is a pediatrician."

"Christian," she interrupted him before he could speak his next sentence. "Do you honestly think that your parents could give him what he wants and needs? He saw your parents on a daily basis through Elena's connection, what makes you think he's going to trust your parents? They are very good friends of Elena's, what's stopping them from colluding with Elena? You've admitted yourself that Elena's played the same trick on you for six whole years, and your parents didn't suspect a single thing. How do you think Isaac's going to trust them given their history about gullibility? What makes you think he's going to believe that your parents can protect him and help him through the traumas?"

Christian ran his fingers through his hair roughly as he digested her words. They made sense. He didn't know if this had been her opinion all along since meeting them, because he swore that she didn't see them this poorly when they were dating.

Nevertheless, he wasn't their biggest fan either at the moment, so his defense only reached so far. He was only feeling affronted when she shot down his idea with such confidence, absoluteness, and speed.

"What do you suppose we do then?" He sighed in defeat. She did have a point, but he truly wanted to help this poor, unfortunate but extremely strong kid.

"If he wants to go back to Detroit and to the Colliers, we can fund him. That is if he accepts. If he doesn't care where he is, then I can ask my parents, or just ask someone he's grown comfortable with."

"I doubt he's grown comfortable to anyone other than Jack, but he jilted him. Knowing Elena," Christian swallowed, still having trouble comfortably. "He won't be allowed to make friends."

"So, my parents it is."

She whipped out her phone not wasting a second to find a suitable solution for Isaac, so he didn't end up in foster care and risk having a repeat of is early adolescence.

Christian couldn't get a word in, and he knew if he was going to open his mouth about his parents, she was going to have Taylor find the footage from the beginning of this year. Therefore, he wisely kept his mouth shut and listened to the one-sided conversation.

"Hi mom… mom?" She pulled away to check that she was actually dialing her father's number. She had tried her mother's and it went to voicemail after not being answered for too long. "Whatever, okay… finally one of you picked up," she rambled half to herself. "Is dad home?"

"Yes, your father's home. Ray!" Carla hollered, and Anastasia cringed and winced at the ear-piercing volume. She swore her parents were still stuck in the last century with the way they fumbled over their smart phones; but when it came to some other electronics, sometimes they were surprisingly intelligent. Perhaps that was the reason why she was so clumsy with the radio that she had left with a colleague of hers when she rushed to leave call," after

"Did you hear that?" Anastasia pulled the phone away and turned on speaker mode when all she could hear was noises as her mother carried the phone around the house looking for her husband. Christian chuckled and nodded, making her roll her eyes in exasperation.

Every other parents in their generation were coping better with smart phones. She swore that her parents were allergic to smart phones, which was why they were rejecting it so much.

"You're on speaker," Ray announced. That was after a long minute of fumbling and pressing on the wrong keys and listening to them fuss over the smallest changes wondering what had just happened.

"Oh, good. Finally," she took them off of speaker and raised the phone back to her ear. "I'm good. Christian's been taking good care of me and making me fat," she replied to her father's concerns. "I've gained weight already, mom,S" she whined when her mother demanded to know her diet.

"Are you sure you don't want to come stay with us for a bit?" Carla asked again.

Her folks were constantly worried about her since she had been discharged. Though, Ray less so compared to Carla. As an ex-Marine, he was just glad that his little girl came out alive with no permanent damage because he knew firsthand about the damages a bullet could do, but the recovery of the wound was an easy process that he wasn't all that worried about. He knew that Christian would be fussing over her like crazy, so he didn't have to add to the overprotective mix.

Carla, on the other hand, was a completely different case. Despite Ray'x constant reassurance, she was still worried sick that her daughter wouldn't be getting enough rest or food, or care. She would consider calling her everyday and if not for Ray putting a stop to it, Anastasia would be driven insane with her calls. Carla just wanted to be able to physically see her recover, it would put a mother's concern to rest. Still, all of those worry didn't stop her from continuing her enjoyment of the never-bursting bubble that she and Ray lived in.

"Okay, on to the purpose of this call," after fending off questions after questions about her health and wound, and at one point even having Christian take over so he could vouch for her as well as confess what he had done to aid her daily life; she was finally able to proceed with the call.

The SUV came to a halt before the apartment complex near Elliott Bay, the condo that they were currently staying at. Taylor opened the door for them and Christian helped her out of the car with her still talking rapidly into the phone explaining the situation as brief and concise as she could to save time.

Now come to think of it, perhaps they just might be the family. Ray and Carla were notorious for living in their own romantic world, they were always full of love. The love their share was so palpable that Christian thought he could see it everywhere in their house and touch the sparks whenever he was around them. They weren't bad parents either, albeit a few mistakes here and there over the course of raising Anastasia; she had grown up to become a remarkable woman, still. He thought they would be the perfect household, living in a rather quiet part of town in Montesano.

"Mom, can we take it one step at a time? I'm only living with Christian because I sold my apartment in Baltimore," and Christian made a mental note there and then to talk about exactly what she had sacrificed for him, "and, I can't possibly stay with Ethan forever. Besides, he insisted on taking care of me… no! It's different than moving in with him because we're not in a relationship!"

Christian could feel the sting from her words, but she was right, they weren't in a relationship; he didn't know what they were. Still, it was comical and entertaining for him to listen to this one-sided conversation, even though he still couldn't make out whether her parents had agreed or not.

"Mom, it's not the end of the world that I'm still single and sharing an apartment with another single man. We're just cohabitating," she rolled her eyes and bit back an explanation. "Mom, you do know that we don't need to get married to have kids, right? And, there are so many women out there my age or even older that are still single or not married but in a stable, committed relationship?"

"… but, you have a loving man with you, why not take him? He made a wonderful boyfriend four years ago, I'm sure he'd just be better this time around. I still don't know why you guys broke it off, but sometimes the time and distance makes the heart fonder. You should at least be thinking about settling down and having kids, everyone here does that in their mid-twenties…"

"Mom, I don't think you're supposed to be the one with baby fever after talking to the neighbors and visiting an orphanage. If you two really want some company, try Isaac. He only has to stay for two years."

"Ana, it's a lifetime's responsibility to adopt a child. Isaac is severely traumatized and we have no idea how to cope with children like him. I'd really like to help, but adoption is not an option at the moment. There are more than just one factor to consider when you make a decision like this, Ana. You don't just set a time limit. Thos kids at the orphanage, if Ray and I truly wanted to adopt, we could've picked one up there. The reason why we aren't open to the idea is because we aren't prepared to accept the life long responsibilities attached to having a child around. We only went to the orphanage to donate some of your old stuff after our neighbor took the ones she needs for her new granddaughter. It's not all rainbows and sunshines when it comes to raising a kid."

Anastasia groaned. She could understand that her parents were reserved and would more likely decline. Isaac was a delicate situation. It didn't make the Steeles cold-hearted or unsympathetic, but raising a teenager like a hands-on responsible parents require a lot of energy and commitment. They might be doing Isaac a favor by choosing not to adopt him. At the stage of their life, all they want would be basking in the joy of playing with their grandkids that they could just hand back if they started fussing. They just wanted a peaceful life that only included the positive side of having kids around but not the downside of it.

Carla went back to asking her daughter about her love life with her assumed son-in-law, who also conveniently didn't look all bad.

"Mom, you can just play with the neighbor's kids for now, and don't expect me to start popping kids out. You should be glad that at least there is a man that wants to stick with your daughter not thinking about ways to have him play family with me."

"When are you going to start popping babies out, then? Everyone in this community is having kids. The other neighbor's daughter is a year younger than you and she's already married with a son due very soon."

"If you keep badgering my ass about having babies then don't make a fuss when I tell you one day that I got knocked up and it's going to be born out of wedlock." That was meant to be a threat, but by the looks on Christian's face and the reaction from her mother over the phone, she could only deduce that the both of them didn't know that was supposed to be a deadpan; her poker face was too real.

When she finally hung up with her parents, Christian walked out of the spare bedroom with a pair of boxing gloves.

"Are these yours?"

"Yes."

"You still box?" He was suddenly thrown into the desire of wanting to spar with her and to watch her in action; she must be smoking hot and sexy.

"No, they've been in a box for over three years now. I would've told you to keep them in storage with the rest of your stuff at Escala if I knew they were in that box."

"Seems like you've got the whole set," he called from the guest room as he plucked out the rest of the gear.

"Yup, got them when I first started taking those lessons, but that didn't really go anywhere since I'm exhausted after working, so I'd eventually given up and quit going to the gym altogether. I only have two days to rest, and sometimes they're not even consecutive."

"The life of a doctor."

"Yup, spot on!" She nodded concurring, throwing her feet on the couch.

Christian walked up and sat next to her, he needed to ask about the phone call.

But, before they could continue their talk, Taco appeared.

He got up from the spot he was laying in the middle of the room to steal the boxing gloves the moment they were released from Christian's hand. He had been preying on it even since it was brought out. The couple watched him get into action and couldn't help but laugh at their daft dog's attempts to pick up two gloves at one go. They both knew it was going to end up on the floor in the guest room.

"So, what's the verdict?" He asked after Taco disappeared into the bedroom with one glove and another still on the floor.

"Tucks!" Anastasia laughed and pointed at the pooch that came sneaking back from the guest room behind Christian for the other glove. The dog wagged his tail even faster at the acknowledgement as he slowly lowered his head to the item, with a devious gleam in his eyes glaring at his owners, as if to taunt them that he was doing something bad. His eyes were saying 'watch me' as his teeth clamped down on the glove. "You told me he's trained and educated?" She lifted an eyebrow and pointed her index finger at the offending pooch who was now trotting back to the guest room victoriously, wiggling his ass along with his tail wildly all the way.

"He was probably tricked into obtaining that certificate. It's probably out dated anyway. Don't know if Flynn renewed it." Christian shrugged his shoulders as he watched their huge dog push and squeeze through the half-empty boxes at the door and sauntered proudly into the room. "Tucks?"

"Seems fitting. I've been calling him that in my mind for a while now, could be his new nickname. It's not like he cares what everyone calls him. He thinks everyone is looking for him whenever we have food, so he responds to all the calls. It sounds similar enough to him. Call it an endearment?" She shrugged her right shoulder so her injury wouldn't be as affected.

"Cool, we'll see if you can get him out of that shelter later when you don't have food or his leash and collar," he jabbed at the room behind him with an arrogant smirk. "Now, back onto the phone call, what did your parents say?"

Anastasia pursed her lips as she contemplated the best way to explain the reasoning to him before he stressed himself out and jump down her throat at her fruitless suggestion after learning about her folks' rejection.

"Um… they don't…" she hesitated on the wording. "They said no," then decided to outed directly, it was best not to prolong the inevitable and better to just face the consequences.

"Why?" Christian demanded. "They really only have to offer him a cover until he turns eighteen. If we give him money and provide everything for him, then your parents really don't have to do anything."

"Christian, it's not that simple," she took a deep breath, preparing herself for a long talk that would be about things that were completely irrelevant. "It's not about the money."

"Then what is it?"

"It's about the responsibilities."

"They don't have to be responsible for him. He's been doing well on his own for the past month and he likes that feeling of liberty and being free."

"That's not the point either. If my parents were to adopt Isaac, he becomes their responsibility by law; they are going to be his legal guardian. If Isaac got into trouble in the society, it would be on their heads. If Isaac doesn't behave, people will come to my parents and accuse them of bad parenting or lack of enforced discipline. It is my parents that will be subjected to the scrutiny."

Christian was still frowning with his brows creased. He still couldn't understand why they wouldn't step forward to help this troubled kid, but he knew if he voiced his next remark, Anastasia would explode on him. So, he wisely kept his opinion to himself and just stared at her, in hopes that his eyes could convey the confusion he was feeling.

"Adopting means he's legally a Steele, and my parents are his parents." Christian nodded, this was an understatement, everyone who could comprehend the law should understand it; it was almost like common sense. "Which is like having a teenage child." He shook his head once more in concurrence. "The only difference is, they would constantly be judged on how this kid should be raised and nurtured by the authority and the public, because he's a fragile kid and a high profile case. If they made a mistake and drama followed, then there's the risk of him going back into the system because the social workers deem my parents incapable of parenting him; the reasons are endless."

"So, your parents just don't want to risk their credits or I don't know, just don't want to take responsibilities and pay for potential consequences," he summarized. In the end, he was still voicing part of his opinions, so he had no idea how she would react to it.

"You can say that…" she nodded once and bit her lip as she watched him closely while he processed this confirmation.

"I mean no offense, but your parents just sounded cold-hearted and ignorant."

She sighed. It was one of the conclusions that she had expected he would come to. She didn't know what more to say to make him understand that adopting a child wasn't just about the paperworks.

"My parents just aren't at the stage for kids anymore, Christian. They do not have the energy and patience they once have."

"Then what is it about the baby fever that they are having?" It was a completely irrelevant topic but he thought it was related since he heard them talk about it throughout the phone call.

"At their stage in life, all they want is to see life as all sunshine and rainbows. They want to play with kids but be able to just hand them off to the parents once they're done spoiling them. My parents don't want to go through the roller-coaster ride that comes with investing fully in a teenager. Even if Isaac doesn't have a single baggage or flaw and is a perfect child, they'd still refuse to adopt him."

Anastasia had hoped that her speech could make him understand where her parents were coming from, but it did very little.

What she didn't realize or reflect on was the fact that perhaps she had been holding the Greys' past mistake against them, and her prejudice against them might be the reason why she ruled them out for adoption in the first place and never considered that they were much more resourceful and experienced than her own parents.

But, due to what had happened to Christian, it made Anastasia ignorant when it comes to his parents.

"Look, my parents had me at a considerably late age, and they didn't want to go through another pregnancy so they settled with a single child. Throughout my childhood and adolescence, they've never entertained the idea of having another kid; they told me that earlier. They are older than your folks in age, Christian, so it's understandable that they're in a different phase in life than your parents."

She studied his profile carefully, and watched his expression morph from showing a bit of understanding to confusion, then to a flash of anger, then finally settling on a mixture of uncertainty and irritation. She only hoped that the irritation wasn't directed at her.

Though, she knew of his notorious thin patience, so she wouldn't be surprised either if they were unintentionally directed at her.

"Okay…" she dragged the syllable out until she got his full attention. "I can see that I'm not making any sense to you right now. So, how about we pay them a visit in person and let them explain it to you. Or ask them if they could offer any kind of solution. How does that sound?"

Christian pondered for a few moments and concurred. He did want to talk to her dad, and it wasn't like his personal life wasn't a public record now anyway.

…

"Your dream car?" Ray jested again when he saw her getting out of the R8 that Christian insisted on driving. The SUV with Taco and the bodyguards was parked behind them, really closely to squeeze into the driveway. The sun was still shining bright despite being almost time for dinner as it was very late in the afternoon.

"I sold my car, daddy," she deadpanned. "I'm dirt poor at the moment."

That reminded Christian that he really needed to broach the subject of what exactly she'd done, soon.

"Taco!" Ray yelped, and his outstretched hand originally for Christian was now with a fist full of fur as he tried to pull the giant beast from giving him repeated bear hugs.

"Christian, it's been so long, how have you been?" Carla finally moved away from examining her daughter in the most thorough fashion. She rested her hands on his biceps and leaned up to kiss his cheeks, she had learned long ago that Christian didn't like to be touched, so she would confine her hugs. He was still uncomfortable around people in close proximity, not trusting them to keep their hands to themselves when they greet him in such a friendly manner.

"I'm doing well, all things considered, Carla." He replied with a polite air kiss before they pulled away. Then, he quickly latched onto Anastasia, seeking protection and solace, also a very legit excuse to touch her.

"Who are you hiding from? Tucks?" She giggled softly, laying her hands on his forearms that were around her shoulders, her back pressed firmly against his chest.

He leaned down and gave her a very reserved peck behind the ear on the sensitive spot, it was the point that would always make her shiver as wetness formed down below.

"Escaping from your mom's infamous bear hugs," he whispered in her ear.

Before she could retort, they were nearly swept off of their feet when Taco stormed past them and into the house, squeezing past their legs and almost breaking the door hinges.

That was then followed by Ray's booming laughters, as if he planned this with the pooch.

"Dad, remember that I told you about Christian and his cars?" She said aloud knowing that her father was not far behind them. Taco had rushed to the kitchen for food that Carla had saved for him.

"Yes, you want a Lamborghini." She turned around, forcing Christian to do the same since he still wasn't letting her go. "What! Don't stare at me like that," he protested, locking the door after the two bodyguards entered the house, heading straight for the TV that was turned on with some kind of sport program replaying.

"Then, how do you want me to look at you?" She deadpanned, earning a light chuckle next to his ear from Christian. "And, how in the world did you get the impression that I was talking about my sports car?"

"Are you not?" Ray asked lightheartedly, clearly not paying attention to her.

"Are you deaf?" She bantered with a groan as the back of her head hit Christian's chest, resting on it.

"You wanted a Lamborghini?" Christian peered down at her, she still had her eyes closed. Ray had made a beeline for the two off-duty security guards after he shrugged carelessly believing that he had successfully annoyed her daughter, leaving the young couple near the door. "Damn, should've deposit more than half a mil to that account back then."

Anastasia's eyes shot open as she fixed her gaze upward to his. "I never told you about that account, nor have I told you about the car!"

"You've briefly mentioned about wanting to get another car that Christmas in Baltimore." She thought back to what he was referring to, then recalled that was the first time she'd ate something he cooked, and it got her addicted to his cooking ever since.

"I wasn't even certain that it would be a car!" That was a blatant lie, but she just felt the need to make it clear for reasons even unknown to her; that account was supposed to be for her car since she created it.

"I remember seeing it in your eyes that it was indeed for a car."

She huffed.

"What's with the attitude?" He lightly brushed his lips over the shell of her ear, making her shiver. "Have I spoiled you too much?"

"So, you remember," she scoffed softly, mainly in an attempt to forget about the moist pooling at her core and the rising lust for the man.

"Of course I remember. I didn't suffer from amnesia." He smirked, knowing full well what she was doing and feeling smug at the same time for succeeding on his seduction scheme; though, she was going to be teased for a long time since she still wasn't cleared for intercourse, and he refused to engage in any other sexual activity just in case he got carried away.

"Christian, come over, boy!" Ray hollered from the TV, effectively ruining the couple's moment. "You never made good on your promise of that baseball game. It's been three years or was it four now? I'm holding you to it!" He called out, eliciting a giggle from Anastasia, she knew her parents loved Christian like their own. Even though, they had never voiced that to her, she knew that they wished for her and Christian to marry. "Son! Pry your hands off of my daughter and get over here!"

"I'm on my way!" Christian shouted back, his response filled with mirth.

The Steeles had always been a fun, laidback, and lighthearted household. He had always enjoyed visiting, it was a really different environment.

Though sometimes he did feel like this family was probably too limitless when they joked around. Granted, it was a tight-knitted family but he still couldn't get used to some of the borderless comments. It wasn't inappropriate per se, but just a bit awkward given the circumstances. And, he knew he wouldn't escape one of those grueling teasings today, especially after his very public display of affection with Anastasia.

Ray immediately accosted Christian the moment he appeared in his peripheral near the TV, demanding to learn more about his plans to keep that promise he allegedly made this elder man four years ago. Ray claimed that he made the promise to him when he was pursuing Anastasia.

"I honestly don't remember," Christian protested again, but that fell on deaf ears once more. Even Taylor snorted a laugh.

"Your bodyguard seems to have a different opinion," Ray would not rest until he had his fill of toying with the young man.

"When does he ever agree with me? He's as good as fired," Christian said dryly but he wasn't even looking at Taylor—his eyes were glued to the sports on the TV.

"I'll see to it," Sawyer announced, earning a kick on the shin from Taylor's heel. "You do realize that I work for him right? You weren't the one who vetted me."

"Oh yes, of course, only the best for Ana…" Taylor grunted dramatically, "but don't forget that your recommendation came from _me_!" He jabbed his thumb to himself proudly.

Christian snorted loudly at their banter, he had only got around the idea that it was perfectly fine to share some down-time with his only two securities well into his intensive therapy; mostly because they were the only men constantly around him during hie recovery. Still, they did share some relaxing moments between the three of them over a few bottles of beers.

After a very uneventful but delightful dinner affair, Taylor and Sawyer both disappeared into the only two guest rooms prepared for them, leaving Christian with the Steeles.

* * *

**Thank you so much for the views and reviews! **

**X**


	40. Taking A Break From Reality

_**Taking a Break from Reality**_

"Ana, you didn't give me enough time to get the sofa-bed ready when you called me earlier this afternoon," Carla pulled out the couch in the living room and started to make a fuss to set it up as a bed.

"Mom," Anastasia whined, completely unaware of Ray's utter look of amusement from the dining room where he and Christian were still chatting about fishing or whatever, while they tidied up.

This was obviously a setup to prank their daughter, and Christian wasn't going to ruin the fun for the parents.

"You can sleep here, but I'm sure Christian won't allow it since your wound isn't fully healed," Carla talked as she peeled off the cloth that was originally for the couch, which didn't fit for the bed.

"Mom," she stomped her foot lightly to get her mom's attention. "No one will sleep on this boneless sofa!"

"Why?" Carla frowned, straightening her back to stare at her daughter.

"Christian has nightmares." Carla watched in absolute amazement and amusement as her daughter struggled to come up with a convincing excuse in hopes it would be enough to dismiss her idea of them sleeping separately, and out of all the excuses she could find, this was what she blurted out.

"Oh, then it's even better that he's occupying such a spacious area."

Anastasia's gaze followed the generic wave of Carla's hand around the living room, still determined to let Christian sleep in her room. Even though she really didn't have to explain herself to her parents. She just never stopped to think for a second, because she would realize that she was an accomplished and independent woman over her mid-twenties. Yet, her brain was caught up in the undying effort to persuade her mother.

"He doesn't have them when he sleeps next to me," Anastasia exclaimed.

Christian silently lifted an eyebrow to himself when he heard that she was going to use him as an excuse. Though, he doubted that he was the only one with night terrors. He still remembered those nights in the hospital when he wasn't able to cuddle with her due to the wires connected to her.

If she truly did have night mares, she had never admit it to anyone; but, if the way she attached herself to him int he middle of the night whenever she felt distressed was any indication, he was very certain that it was a nightmare that was about to invade her sleep and she just never remembered them.

"Really?" Carla was skeptical.

"Yes!"

"Well, one night won't hurt." Just when Anastasia thought she was making progress at persuading her mother. She sighed as she watched her mother returned to unfolding the sheet.

"Christian will be nervous about what we're going to talk about tomorrow, so he's going to be stressed tonight and that means he's definitely going to have one of his worse ones…"

"Stop using that poor boy as an excuse, Annie," Ray chortled as he approached the mother-daughter pair. He had enjoyed this so far but he thought it was probably time to end this.

"I'm going to go look for Christian," Anastasia made a haste retreat to hide her flushing face for being called out.

"You are not sleeping with him," Carla called behind her. "He's not your boyfriend," she added good-humoredly.

"He is now!" Anastasia threw the statement over her shoulder without even thinking of the potential consequences of that declaration. She could hear her parents sniggering at her over-dramatic reaction. "I'm not cleared for sex yet, mom!" She snapped loudly and frustratedly.

She didn't know whether to expect some kind of remark about her attitude or more of their snickers, but from the increased volumes of their laugh, she could only guess it was the latter. Rolling her eyes, she headed for the stairs, studiously ignoring her immature parents only to find Christian hiding his laugh behind a smirk that made him look sinfully hot.

Still, she wanted to knock that bad-boy crooked grin off of his handsome face.

"When you have, get started on curing my baby fever!" Carla giggled as she watched her daughter flung herself into Christian's arms wishing it could swallow her up so she could become invisible.

"This is so embarrassing!" She groaned aloud into his chest.

"Boyfriend, huh?"

"I guess it's official now," she mumbled into his clothes, muffling her voice but he still heard her.

Christian didn't know how to contain his glee when he heard that statement so he did the only thing he could think of, which was to pick her up and carry her up the stairs.

Anastasia would've screamed bloody murder if not for the fact that she actually didn't want her parents to witness this scene, or have their security come running out in their pajamas. She remained quiet, until they were in her bedroom and she was thrown on to the bed with the door closed.

"I'm going to take a quick shower?"

"What?" She squeaked, sitting up from her bed within a second as she watched him unbutton his shirt casually and reach for clothes in their overnight bag. "Wait, wait…" she shuffled to place her body in between him and the bag. "_What_ did you just fucking say?"

"I'm going to shower," he repeated nonchalantly. Only risking a brief glance at her so he wouldn't laugh.

She glared at him.

"So, I can come back to ravish you." He finished the rest of his sentence when she was just about to open her mouth to make a comment about the way she was treated earlier.

"What?" That caught her in a dumbfounded state again.

"You could shower with me," he offered. "Since I'm _officially_ your boyfriend now," he said, purposely making her words earlier sounded like they came from an adolescence.

"You got me all excited," she huffed like a spoiled princess with her arms firmly folded before her chest and her lips pouted.

He chuckled at her but resumed picking out whatever he needed for his shower. Before he turned around and sauntered out of the door, he pecked her protruding lips as if she was asking for a kiss.

Anastasia scoffed dissatisfied and threw herself back onto the bed. Deciding that she shouldn't be sulking over something so insignificant, it wasn't like he wasn't coming back to sleep next to her at night anyway. She dragged their duffle bag onto her bed and randomly dug out one of his t-shirts to change into.

When she took off her own clothes and was just in her bra, she looked down to check her healing wound that didn't require a dressing anymore. It was just a gesture out of habit since she was shot but sometimes those casual checkups could also come in handy. For instance, like right now.

"Christian!" Anastasia bolted up from the bed and charged at the shared bathroom. The only other bathroom in the house was attached to her parents' room.

Having heard her frantic holler, he already had the door unlocked but didn't pause from his process of stripping naked. He was pretty confident that she was freaking out over that bullet wound again. Yet, the funny thing was, she used to be so calm about everything and very cynical in regard to their relationship; he had never seen her so clingy, needy, and dependent on him.

_Was she holding back all this time or was this the effect of everything that she was put through?_

It was even more ironic and paradoxical that she was bolting toward the person with the least medical experience. Yet, whenever something happened, she'd always turn to him first, panicked, nowadays.

"Christian," she busted through the door, tumbling in the obviously expecting it to be locked.

He reached out to steady her and sat her on the marble counter atop of his pile of discarded clothes so her bare thighs wouldn't get cold. He was ready to step into the shower, but figured that she would want him to know what was wrong first, so he locked the door and caged her on the vanity.

"Yeah?" He answered her previous calls. He already knew what she was here for, so he peeled his shirt that was clutched in her hands to partially shield her almost naked body, to check her wound.

"I think I've accidentally torn it or something. I don't even know what I've done, or maybe Taco's paws actually did some damage."

"Taco? When did he get on you?" He asked her, recollecting his interception when the pooch welcomed them to their new apartment before he could lay his paws on her.

"It's been over four weeks now."

"_Just_ over four weeks." He stressed but she studiously ignored him.

"So I thought it should be healed, at least the scab should be strong enough."

"So, you didn't stop him," he finished for her. She nodded.

Christian didn't know when he got this patience of a saint, because he was more than certain that if Anastasia was like this four years ago, he would've lost his shit while they were still in the hospital. And, if he loved her like he did now—unconditionally—he would've felt like shit after losing his shit over her clingy and needy behavior, only to repeat the same when his patience when challenged once again, probably on the next day. It would've become a vicious cycle leading them to an unhealthy relationship.

However, he didn't even think about getting impatient with her over the last four weeks. No matter how ridiculous her demands may be, or how hideous her comments and speech had been, he had treated her with the patience of a saint that he never knew was in him. He didn't think he had ever treated anyone like he had done her.

It really made him ponder her question—was he doing everything, all of this, out of obligation because he felt indebted to her?

"What do you want to do with it?" He found himself asking after reminding her that she should still keep her distance with Taco until she hit the two months mark, which was in a little less than two weeks' time.

Though, he was secretly hoping that she'd be cleared for sex next week when they went back to get rid of the rest of the stitches since she wasn't advised to use absorbable suture as the pulling strength may not be strong enough. The end of next week should mark the sixth week, and he was hoping they'd receive the clearance a few days earlier; because, he couldn't wait any longer.

He had been attending to her needs tirelessly for the past month, and he believed that it was finally time for him to claim his prize. Sometimes, he thought she was also seeking for a release, maybe even more desperate than him.

"Huh?" He looked up to meet her eyes after getting kicked on the thigh.

"Stop staring at my boobs."

"Right, I have all night to do that."

She rolled her eyes. "I asked you if you know where the first aid kit is?"

"Uh, no… I don't."

"Go get it then," she directed him to the correct cabinet verbally. "Maybe I should put a thin gauze over it to protect the wound for the night?"

"Is it open? There's only a small amount of blood visible," he cleaned the injury with a cotton swab gently, and it was only a superficial tear, so there was really nothing to worry about.

"I just fear that one of us will accidentally make it worse at night."

"Then, maybe I should sleep on the sofa-bed?" He suggested and he was serious.

"No!" She shook her head dismissing the idea firmly. "I sleep better with you."

He grinned, but bit back a witty comeback about her finally admitting the truth behind not wanting to sleep apart.

"Do you want to stay here while I shower?" He asked after dressing her would up just like she instructed.

"Sure," she dangled her legs, letting her heels bounce off of the cabinets door beneath her rhythmically.

He leaned over to give her dressing a peck, and then moved up to repeat the move over her mouth and stepped into the shower. He would've pushed her against the wall and kiss her senseless but he feared he might get too lost and actually started to grope chest. Glancing in her direction briefly he saw that she was staring at the floor but once he turned his attention back to himself, he smirked. He could feel her gaze staring at him through the glasses, and he had to distract himself to stop himself from getting a hard-on.

The thoughts regarding the obligation question re-entered his mind. He still couldn't give her an answer just yet, because that question really did make him ponder if he did some of the things due to the subconscious feeling of obligation.

He knew he would've still done the same, but would he be so lenient and forbearing about everything? Would he have gone to the degree that he had?

Maybe he wouldn't have cooked so many meals himself, or live without any help from Gail other than have her run his public errands for him.

Maybe he wouldn't have accepted the condo at Elliott Bay.

Maybe he wouldn't have insisted that she move in with him.

Maybe he would just let her stay with her friends or family and just swing by to check on her every so often just to make sure that she was recovering fine.

And, maybe, he wouldn't push or more like shove them down the path of forging a romantic relationship, and somewhat forced her to reconsider the possibility of them rekindling.

The list was endless… but, did he really feel obliged to take care of her? Was he really doing everything purely out of obligation and for nothing else? Was he still doing that?

Just how much did his love for her played a role in all of his decision making, versus the role played by the guilt he refused to admit he felt? Which one was dominating when he made those choices?

"You need to workout." He had forgot that she was still in here. He had been too engrossed with his self-reflection of the past few weeks. She may be pretending that she had forgotten about the seemingly simple yet very soul-searching question she asked him just yesterday, or was it earlier today? She felt like this day couldn't drag on any longer.

He knew that she was still waiting for an answer from him.

"What?" Having no idea how long he had been under the stream and no recollection of whether he'd use any shower gel. Quickly deciding that he was clean enough, he switched off the water and stepped out into the awaiting towel that she had in her hands.

"You don't look as fit as I remember," she elaborated, poking him on the side and then directly on his bellybutton.

"I am fit!" He defended, she was still the only one who could actually prod him till her heart was content. He twirled around with his towel discarded on the side in the small space—the bathroom was probably one fifth of the size at Escala—flexing all of the muscles visible. "See?" He faced her and performed another round of demonstration.

"Not as toned," she pinched a part of his waist. It still felt hard under her touch but not as hard as she thought would be.

"I have only recovered from that accident and started returning to my full workout routine a month ago."

"Yeah, well… you only stopped working out for what, two weeks?" She moaned in mock complaint.

"Okay, okay, Jesus, woman! I'll hit the gym when we return to Seattle, yeah? I'll spend extra time there before I return to work full-time." He appeased, even though he knew she'd forget about her comment as soon as tomorrow arrived.

"When are you going back full-time?" She asked after being lifted back onto the counter so he could have enough space to dry and get dressed. She really didn't mean anything about his body physique remark, she really couldn't care less how hard his body felt under her touch, because this man had been working out for the longest time, so his shape wouldn't really change all that much if he didn't workout for a while. She commented for the sake of wanting to make a comment about his body shape.

That was all.

Both of them knew that he was only saying that he'd increase his workout time just to placate her petulant little tantrum.

"How are you feeling about the wound?" He needed to get back to work soon, and he knew that. He technically should've been back full-time last week, but he didn't because she wasn't discharged yet, and now he couldn't because she might need someone to take care of her.

"If you really need to start working full-time, which I'm sure you do, then you need to stop worrying about me." That was probably the most selfless thing she had said since she was hospitalized, and she was serious this time; which could only indicate that she had been feigning petulance and selfishness all this time.

"I do also need you there, though." He purposely neglected to remind her that he'd always worry about her because the comment about obligation was still lingering at the back of his mind.

"I am fit to walk around on my own like a completely normal person. I can act like a rich spoiled princess when I need to carry my lunch tray. Some one can carry my stuff around for me if you're afraid that I'd be using my arms."

Christian contemplated. He would've shot the notion down in a heartbeat if he could prolong his partial leave another week, only trouble was, his presence was desperately demanded.

"What if there are days that you don't need to come in? Who's going to take care of you?"

"Then I can go back to my job."

He scowled, not liking the idea.

"I was going to talk to Northwest about my job contract there when I get my stitches removed next week anyway."

The only reason Anastasia was bringing it up now was because she knew that once he was back to work full-time, he would be stuck in his office like he was under house arrest at Grey House. She needed to plan her career in Seattle, knowing that they'd be in the West for a long time, unless he'd be willing to move his headquarters away.

"You're going back to work already?"

"You aren't the multi-millionaire that you once were. Money ain't gonna just appear with a wave of your hand, and people aren't going to provide you the convenience with just a snap of your finger, Grey. You need to get real and accept that you are starting from the beginning again; we both are, but with a lot more resistance this time."

"You do know that we aren't exactly dirt poor. I may not be worth millions right now, but I will be very soon. As the majority shareholder of a multi-million dollar company, you are goin to be richer than me, woman. You need to get real and learn your self-worth." _Pun intended_, he added after the last bit.

"What makes you think I even consider those 51% mine? They're merely under my name."

"Then, what can I do to change your mind? Marry you?" He kidded lightly. He fully intended to accomplish the latter, but now was definitely not the time.

"Just tell me when you're going back to work. Gail and Sawyer can come over to stay with me while you're gone, to entertain me or to keep me company… however you want to call it. I doubt I will be at home anyway."

"Gail can come over to take care of you and the apartment, and Sawyer will drive you around. Question is," he lifted her off of the vanity, stopping her happy dance as he gathered all of her clothes and used towels in his arms so they could continue this discussion back in her room. "What will you be doing if you're not at home all the time?"

"Networking."

"Where?" He knew better than to ask why because quite frankly, he was also in need of equally intense social networking once he returned to the office. He couldn't be his usual aloof self until he saw it in person that his name was cleared.

"Everywhere, but mainly in the hospitals around." Unlocking the door, she opened it for him much to his displeasure, even though the door was light and she barely used a muscle. "We can't miss any social function in the foreseeable future," she told him, voicing his exact same concern.

"My PR team has already warned me about it."

"That's a lot of cheap wine and barely tolerable dishes coming our way."

Using her right shoulder this time, she pushed the door to her room open for the both of them before he could reach the handle. His expression only softened a tad bit, the difference was almost impossible to notice.

"I won't expect you to make it to every function with me…"

"Don't you worry, Mr Grey. It's only fair," she smirked. Then suddenly, it hit him. "I'm dragging your ass to every single one that _I'm_ going whether you like it or not, so keep your schedule clear for me. You're going to be my date to everything!" He groaned at the thought of not being able to have time for themselves even if it was the weekend. "I have just as many to attend as you, and you're going to meet a lot of people that I'm sure you've known for more than four years."

"Don't remind me," he murmured darkly as he dumped his dirty clothes into the empty duffle bag and draped the wet towel over the back of a chair.

Before he met Anastasia, he recalled attending a lot of the events because his mother had helped planned it. He'd avoid the other events that weren't planned by his mother, even if he was a big investor. He'd only showed his face solely to be courteous to Grace. He practically knew every members of authority at every hospital in Seattle from the sheer amount of events he had shown up to, courtesy of his mother.

Now that Christian was dating a high-ranked doctor with perhaps more useful and valuable connections than Grace, he could only imagine how many functions he was going to attend. And, Anastasia would never get involved with the planning, she was merely invited due to her influence and importance.

"Looking forward to them?"

"Only if we get to play during those events," he replied slyly, crawling back to bed and settling next to her, leaning against the headboard.

Anastasia blushed from head to toe at the reminder of what went inside of her pussy during some of the more boring events they had to attend. Especially, ones like Coping Together; that was really purely for establishing social connections with politically important brats, and money donation.

"You're squirming," he teased.

"Stop pointing it out!" She squealed, this time recalling the comment he made about her tit after he licked it when he was changing her dressing.

He was still sporting that silly grin when she shed her bra from underneath the shirt and clambered under the covers, leaving her legs bare.

"Let's just forget about our networking duty for now, yeah? What do you say?" He was quick to pin her against the mattress and hover above her under the thin blanket, and switched off the lights.

"How?" She winked at him salaciously, pulling the cover over their heads so they were shrouded in utter darkness.

She rarely used her blinds because she always liked it when a few speckles of light were let into her room through her window, it prevented her mind from wandering. He just didn't really care as long as she was near.

"However you imagined," he whispered. He knew their lips were dangerously close to one another's, he could feel her breath pant out in between her slightly parted lips.

If he just puckered up his lips, they would touch hers, but he was waiting for her to make the first move; waiting for her to stick her tongue through his parted mouth and down his throat.

"Kiss me, Christian," she whispered coyly.

_That would also work._ He thought, although he actually wanted her to kiss him first since he had always been the one to initiate a kiss.

He didn't have to be asked twice before he closed the short distance between them. A smirk fought their way over to his lips when he felt an intruder in his mouth, that was her tongue. She didn't waste a breath to take advantage of his unsealed lips and pushed the tip of her tongue through.

That smirk was quickly swallowed by a moan that erupted from deep within his throat. If his vocal cords and other soft tissues were scarred from that forced suicide attempt, then he couldn't feel them right now. All he could focus on was the taste of her lips on his and the way her tongue ruthlessly battled against his.

Biting down on her plum full bottom lip, he allowed his hand to roam her body, reacquainting with her curves. It wasn't lost on him that as soon as he started exploring, her hands left his face and instantly went under his shirt.

He still frowned and paused for a millisecond because he felt her body tense and stiffen when his palm reached her sides. He didn't think her concerns about her weight gain was serious, because as soon as she stopped eating all that much, her weight would drop and those fat hanging above her waist would be a nonissue.

Their tangled limbs and moans had, unbeknown to the couple, drowned out the percussion noises coming from the common area where a liberated giant pooch was doing his best to wreak havoc in this house.

His owners were in for a surprise the next morning, that was for sure.

…

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To the bathroom."

He was met with silence because she had fallen back to sleep.

"Baby," not a minute later, she was shook awake again. She heard herself mumble some kind of incoherent response with her eyes still closed. "I'm going for a run with Taylor and Sawyer," he leaned down to kiss her temple then peppered her face with more kisses before finally claiming her lips.

"A run? Why?" She flipped onto her back and clutched onto his forearms.

"You said I need to workout," he chuckled, throwing her words back in her face. He would've gone for this run regardless of her comments. It wasn't like any of them took the comments seriously. However, Taco also needed to be let out and the house required a thorough clean up to restore it to its initial tidiness.

Thank fuck her parents weren't neat freaks.

"I was a bitch," she snipped, scowling as if she couldn't imagine herself ever making that kind of comment. "Stay," she pleaded.

"I need to let Tucks out, baby," he tried another tactic so he didn't have to reject her directly.

"Okay, make it fast. I wanna cuddle," she ordered sleepily.

"Yes, baby," he chortled against her lips. He knew that she would be out the second he closed the door and make herself believe that she had dreamed about all this. Giving one final tug of her bottom lip, he nibbled on them gently eliciting a moan from her that went straight to his dick, he released it.

_Guess the seduction backfired._

"I love you," he whispered before pulling away completely. He doubted that she had actually heard him, but that didn't matter, they would have a lot more opportunities to come.

What was more important at the moment was to clear up the mess that Taylor found in the common space this morning when he got up to get a drink of water. Or when Sawyer found the St. Bernard snuggled up in a corner with some empty sausage wrapper next to his paws and another bag of snack in his mouth as he glared at the man. The both of them left Christian a text not daring to imaging what state their boss might be in since the both of them got up at different hours extremely early in the morning.

They weren't completely off duty since they were guests in Ray's house and had to be at least cautious of their surroundings. Besides, years of military experience moulded them into light sleepers whenever they weren't at home in their own bed. They would've gotten up to put Taco on a leash but they allowed their laziness to take over.

They were human after all.

…

Waking up to an empty bed almost made Anastasia believed that she had imagined last night, of them making out like teenagers under the covers in her parents' house.

However, in the rare occasion that she had actually got out of bed before her parents, she was more in shock to find three shirtless men and her pup in the living room, cleaning.

_Well, only the men. The pup was messing things up behind them._

Standing atop the turn at the staircase, she darted her eyes to her parents' door and she'd bet that they were awake but just not planning on getting up in the next hour or so until they had to for food or bathroom. She was the same before Taco, because she would study in her bed until she _had_ to get out.

"What a sight for sore eyes," she giggled after taking in the scene she was witnessing. Taco bounded to her the moment she made a noise. He ran up the stairs and nearly knocked her off balance when he shoved his head beneath her hand demanding his morning ruffle, accidentally pushing her legs in the process. "You act like you've been a good boy, Tucks," she chided but still made a slight fuss of him.

All three men stopped. Two blushed and looked away, resuming their work. The other one just straightened his back, smirked and winked at his girl.

"Eyes on me, lady," he feigned sternness even though he knew she would only check him out. "Come over here and take a look at your lovely pup's handiwork," he beckoned her over. The three of them were almost done with mopping out the stains and removing the shards of glass, but they still hadn't got the chance to replace everything that was destroyed.

"We should've tied him to something in the garden," she mused aloud as she surveyed the crime scene. "I think he ate our breakfast. At least from the looks of it, I need to make a trip to the grocery store before we have breakfast this morning."

The three men shared a look and all glanced at Sawyer, silently agreeing that he'd be the one to chauffeur her or her and Christian around.

"Let me make a list," she sighed in defeat as she went to look for a pen and piece of sticky-note, on her way across the room, she spied Taco following her and threw him a stinky eye but the pooch was still shamelessly following her and wagging his tail. As if he wasn't the one that spent all night tearing the house down. That dog just never slept a wink as far as she could recall. He only napped around her while snoring like she had ten dogs in the room.

…

Breakfast was an eventful affair with an undercurrent flowing between the couple. Christian didn't give too much thought about what was ahead of them but Anastasia's antsy feeling, and it was rubbing off on him ever since she took her plate and curled up next to him.

The family ate a casual brunch around the TV, another rare occurrence. Anastasia wondered if it had been too long since they hosted a house full of guests, because she couldn't remember the last time her parents allowed them to not dine around the table properly.

"What was it that you two have to discuss?" Ray begun, as well as his daughter's nightmare.

"You two drove all the way over for a talk?" Carla still found it hard to believe even though she had suspected the topic already.

"Yes," Christian spoke to spare his girl as much discomfort as possible. "About the kid that she told you over the phone."

* * *

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	41. Shedding Some Light

_**Shedding Some Light**_

"You don't understand why we're against adopting Isaac?" Carla concluded after Christian gave them a run down, leaving out all the unnecessary details.

"I do, but he doesn't," Anastasia told her mother. She and Ray had been quite the past fifteen minutes when Christian relaid everything and Carla asked the all the questions trying to dig deeper. "I tried to explain it to him but he just…" she didn't know how to explain his confusion because she didn't know what was it that he didn't understand.

Propping her legs up in Christian's lap, she settled into the corner formed by the back and the arm rest of the loveseat. That was her attempt at relaxing herself. She had no idea why she was so nervous about this entire conversation that has yet to happen. She didn't even know what she was afraid of. Christian had already cam to accept that the Steeles wouldn't adopt Isaac, he was only here to make himself understand them better for future references.

"Why are you two so worked up over this whole thing?" Ray observed, blinking his eyes rapidly showcasing his confusion after Carla did her best to make Christian understand their point from another perspective.

It was a lot of effort to make someone who kind of got used to living in the elite society for Christian to grasp the actual challenge and difficulty that was associated with raising a child, let alone an adopted one. He wasn't the elite bachelor with this empty title, he truly was the elite in practically all ways.

Ray's question lingered in the air. It wasn't that he didn't understand their dilemma, which came from a good cause, but he just felt that something was missing and the young duo might be missing the point. He was aware the Christian had omitted a lot of details when he recounted everything, but Ray believed that the young couple may be led a little astray by their personal experiences.

"Christian feels like he owes it to Isaac," Anastasia spoke up. She understood that her boyfriend may have trouble expressing his genuine thought, so might as well just help him out.

"How so?" Ray's eyes darted from his daughter to her lover.

"This feels like a session with Flynn," Christian muttered under his breath that only Anastasia had heard, who chuckled. Taco would've completed the reenactment if he hadn't been brought out the doors by Taylor and Sawyer, and they were going to be out for a very long time until Taco dragged them back; which would probably be never.

"Elena did the same thing to Christian," Anastasia outed, it wasn't like that wasn't public news already so there was no reason for her to hide it any longer. "Well… other than the adoption part. She's also the Greys' family friend. Carrick helped push the adoption process through, and Grace as a pediatrician didn't detect a single thing that was off about Isaac. It was a pretty embarrassingly ugly stain for her professional career since the exact same thing happened right under her nose, _twice_!"

Christian laid a hand over her knees, rubbing circles into her joint in an attempt to calm her because she was getting worked up again, and not getting to her point.

Anastasia paused a bit after Christian's silent reminder that she was getting off topic, and concluded in one sentence. "Elena just wants to get Christian, so Isaac really is just the unlucky kid that got chosen by a pedophile and got stuck in a war between two people who had a history."

"You think you're the reason that Isaac got victimized?" Ray just wanted to have a clearer message.

"Something like that. I mean, it's not my fault that Isaac got abused, but I do feel kind of responsible that Elena wasn't exposed sooner. I was just too brainwashed by her. Besides, more importantly, I feel like I have the means to ensure that Isaac doesn't endure what I had to." Christian spoke for himself, caressing up and down the pair of legs in his lap to sooth and provide comfort for himself.

"And, what have you been through?"

"A long period of time believing that what she filled my head with wasn't bullshit. I don't want Isaac to live in her shadow."

"Do you think he will though? From what you've told us, that kid certainly sounds like he's got a mind of his own. He didn't buy the horse shit that Elena tried to fill his head with."

"He is stronger than me," Christian bowed his head and Anastasia glared at her father for implying that her adult boyfriend was weaker than a sixteen year-old kid. "But I still want to do something to help him with the abuse."

Ray nodded, he still thought Christian got his footing wrong, and was somewhat determined to get him to see that it wasn't his responsibility to care for Isaac.

"Daddy, move on," Anastasia interrupted, shooting him another glare. She was wary of Christian's mental state and just how much he could endure before he lashed out. She may not be too concerned with him having a mental breakdown but she feared that he might reduce his thinking and mindset back to the pessimistic one he used to have. The last thing she wanted was for him to have a setback.

"Then, what made you thought of us?" Ray gave his daughter a nod in acknowledgement then continued down his line of inquiries.

"I suggested my parents," Christian answered since Ray fixed his gaze on him. "Ana said that Isaac wouldn't trust them given the history of their previous encounter."

"Do you think your parents are capable of raising Isaac?" Ray did notice that he was focusing on what Anastasia had said.

"I don't know," he replied pondering. "I didn't come into contact with them much since before the major scandal broke out. Deep down, I think I have my doubts but I am still very grateful for what they've done for me, so I didn't really consider too much about the wavering trust that I felt for them."

"So, you don't trust them completely? Not the way you do Ana."

Christian wanted to say the trusts were different in kind; but, where they? "No."

"So, when Ana vetoed the idea of him going to your parents, you suggested us?"

"She did."

"Why?" Ray turned to his daughter, he was finally understanding the root of the problem, and from the looks on Carla's face, he was sure she got it too. Now, it was up to them to decide who was going to be the bad guy here.

"I grew up in a very loving family. You to have so much love to give and are so in love, so loved up all the time. I thought this kind of warmth is exactly what Isaac needs, because this is certainly what I think Christian lacked growing up."

"Ana," Carla shook her head slightly; she was going to be the one to break the news to her, saving the impressive reputation that Ray had in their daughter. "You need to realize that you aren't that important in this case. You cannot dictate another person's life and this certainly isn't your business. You can't decide what Isaac wants and you can't deprive other people of their chances to mend their mistakes, and redeem themselves."

Anastasia already disliked her mother's educating tone, but she was expected to sit there and listen until she finished the lecture. And, she knew it would e a while.

"It's not up to you where Isaac goes because this whole thing related to the young boy. Has absolutely nothing to do with you. It's about Christian and his family. Not you, Ana."

Ray watched his daughter take in Carla's lecture. He thought Carla had already been less expressive than he would be, but Anastasia still appeared defiant and to him, she just was just acting like she was spoiled too much lately. He could see that she was seething on the inside with noncompliance and scoffing at her mother for not understanding the situation.

"Honestly, Annie," Ray stepped in feeling the need to be hasher than Carla, reminding her of her own worth. "This whole debacle has made you misread your self-importance. You were given the power and the staff during the events, but now that it's over, you need to realize that you are no longer so important."

"Your father's right," Carla continued since Ray had always been a man of a few words. "Don't become someone who's power-hungry now that you have had a taste of being in charge. You are just Ana, you don't have the capability to dictate what happens next—you aren't in the position to make these decisions, and what you want won't be guaranteed to happen. Sure, you are important to us, to Christian, and we will all grant your wishes to the best of our abilities, but you can't continue to act as if you to make a decision for Isaac and veto others that _you _don't see fit. It's not your business."

Anastasia huffed and shot up from the couch. Throwing one last glare at her parents, she left the living room. This felt like the first time her parents had talked to her like she was still a kid. She wasn't spoiled! Or, had she really started to behave that way?

Christian made a move to stand up and follow her out to the garden when the folks spoke again.

"Son, a word," Ray requested and Carla took over once again.

"While I don't condone the way we talked to her earlier, and I'm sure we've offended you with the harshness toward her from the scowl evident on your face, we do feel the need to knock her off of her high horse and get some sense into her. It is important that she understands that your parents should be given a chance to make peace with the past and redeem their mistakes. This may happen in the way of adopting the troubled kid, or in other ways, but they should have this choice if they want to."

"I really don't appreciate the way she was just spoke to, even though the rational part of me do understand."

"You really shouldn't be spoiling her like that, Christian."

"I don't think telling you that she shouldn't be talked to in that manner is called spoiling her, Carla." Christian defended. "Even if you're her parents."

"You are just overprotective. We all know that, but you can't shield her from _everything_. You have been trying to do that four years ago."

"I have been spoiling her in every way possible since the incident in July." There was nothing to argue with what Carla had just said, so he went back to the original subject. "I just can't bring myself to say no to her; she's done so much for me. I don't want to disappoint her."

"But, denying her or rejecting her demands aren't going to disappoint her. She may be upset, and that's completely normal, but she shouldn't be disappointed; and, I'm sure she won't be."

"You need to stop feeling like you owe it to her," Ray summarized. The one sentence that struck him to the core. "Now, I believe you've got something else to talk to us about."

"I do, but I think I should check on her first."

"She'll be fine," Carla assured. She admired Christian's devotion to her daughter, and felt very lucky for her daughter that she had found someone who would cherish her and protect her; albeit a little overprotective most of the time.

"She's over twenty-five years old," Ray reminded to bring Carla's point home. "With a career of her own. You don't need to constantly coddle her."

Christian wanted to argue but decided to get the next phase over with—the faster he got it done, the quicker he could reunite with his girl. Said girl was probably currently pissed off by her parents.

"I think you know what I'm doing here," he faced the folks.

"Oh, I know what you're doing. You're asking for my daughter's hand," Ray grunted gruffly, volunteering the information. He had already decided to toy with the young ambitious man a bit because in his head, his daughter was no longer his responsibility long ago, so to speak.

Christian could tell that this was clearly not Carla's show since she had shown a little difficulty at schooling in her expression.

"Yes," he still answered hoping to seek comfort from their facial expression, but none of them gave him the reassuring face that he was looking for.

"Well, don't fret and give me the speech about how you love her, or promise that you will cherish her for the rest of your life, or bullshit along the lines of that. She went out of her way to save your ass. So, the answer is no."

"What?" This was the completely opposite of what Christian had anticipated, he thought it was going to be easy.

"Now, tell me, son." Ray continued, totally ignoring the reaction from the young man now sweating bullets across him. He wasn't before the previous comment. Ray knew that. He was tempted to shove him into the lake next door to cool him down, or an ice-bucket would suffice. Still, he was enjoying this. "Would you have changed your mind and not marry her if I don't give you my blessing?"

"Well, no," Christian gulped. He was going to do it one way or another, that was non-negotiable.

"That's exactly what I thought you'd say, so why the hell did you even bother coming to me? Do you live in the nineteenth century or something? I may be old, but I'm not old fashioned, and definitely ore classy and modern than your parents." Ray jested, earning an elbow from Carla who was secretly grinning at the prospect of Christian proposing. She was already swooning over this sweet man that her daughter brought home, and it was a nonissue to her if he become her son-in-law.

Christian snorted a laugh, and let out a breath of relief. His parents may be younger than the two before him in age, but they came from old money, which meant they kept most of the old-fashioned tradition, like asking for blessing from the girl's father before proposing; it was still very much patriarchal. However, Christian knew for sure that there wouldn't be a single trace of traditional segregated roles in his and Anastasia's household, because he would probably be too whipped to be in charged. And, Anastasia wasn't bossy, so it wouldn't be a matriarchy either.

His parents kept emphasizing in their children's education that they would not allow any grandchild to be born out of wedlock. Whereas Ray and Carla had given him the impression that they were much more liberal. They even believed that the notion was ridiculous and not applicable in the modern era.

"You just want to go through the process, because I do believe that you were taught that way. Nonetheless, I do also believe that my answer won't make a difference to you or defer your actions. So, what's the point? I clearly don't have a say in this , and it is my daughter who is going to enter a marriage with you, not me. Though, I am happy that she didn't choose anyone less worthy of her. Thank you for informing us prior to the engagement, so come to me for my congratulations after you've proposed. I am confident that she'll say yes."

Christian gaped at the old man who was now laughing in in utter content and felicity. It was like his life couldn't be more perfect at the moment.

"Well, I honestly have no idea how this works, so thank you for making it easy for me, I guess."

"I don't think I can stop you from marrying my daughter, so my opinion of you really doesn't matter. Though, you did leave a positive impression since we first met. I don't think I've ever seen someone so nervous to meet the father of a _friend_."

"She was clearly no _friend_ of mine since the beginning. But, I didn't know we'd be heading toward marriage back then."

"I'm sure you just didn't realize that, but you need to go look for your girl now," Carla smiled kindly and motherly at him. She was ever the romantic and Christian often wonder how a tough man like Ray could ever have her heart.

…

"Where's my puppy?" Anastasia rounded the house to the door of the front yard.

Christian wanted to chuckle because Taco was clearly _not_ a puppy, but he refrained. Instead, he just texted Taylor repeating the question.

"On his way back," Christian laid a hand atop of hers stopping her from exiting.

She was still chewing over the lecture she received earlier, so she didn't even jump when his sudden appearance startled her. When she looked up, she could see that there was a giant dog with an equally giant tongue dangling from side-to-side as he headed her way, dragging two panting men in running gear as they tried to keep up with the pooch.

The unlatched door was threw open as the hound leapt up upon spotting his two owners waiting for his arrival by the front. Both of them had to turn their heads to avoid the dirt flinging their way as his front paws were lifted off of the ground.

"Tucks, no!" Christian was quick to intercept the hug before his dirty paws could end up ripping Anastasia's stitches further apart, after giving him a rough greeting. He was still full of energy even after being out running all morning.

Anastasia bent down to sooth the now sitting dog, who was still sweating from his run and was tempted to jump on her. She took off his collar along with the leash and told Christian to retrieve the hose so they could wash his feet.

"Ana, you need to tell him no sometimes," Christian told her gently as the both of them worked together to get a very uncooperative Taco's feet washed. He really wasn't in the best stance to lecture her since he had probably only said no a handful of times to her. Sawyer stood by the switch to control the water while Taylor took Taco's stuff back inside.

The couple didn't speak since Anastasia didn't respond to his comment earlier. The both of them were extremely bothered by what went down earlier in the house with her parents. Him being troubled by the way they delivered the message; her being the unfair accusation they had tossed in her face. Once she had simmered down, she might have an entirely different opinion regarding what had occurred lately; but, right now, she just couldn't bring herself to face her parents after the way they had embarrassed her.

"I'm going to go take a walk," Anastasia announced once she got Taco settled back inside with Christian's help. "Do you want to come?" She offered over her shoulder knowing that he was right behind her. Their pooch went wandering around like it was his first visit.

"Sure," like he would turn down any opportunity to be alone with her in any way shape or form.

They shot Taylor and Sawyer both a quick text, instructing them to keep an eye on the naughty dog who was already sniffing for his next target around the house at the moment. Her parents were nowhere to be seen, and it was evident that both parties needed time to cool off.

At least, Christian got his other objective ticked off. He could start brainstorming about the ring design before thinking about whether he could actually afford a custom made one.

"We need to buy groceries," she told him as they stepped out into the porch with Taco staring at them expectantly, as if they had forgot about to include him in their romantic afternoon stroll; despite him only just came back from spending his entire morning outdoor playing and running unleashed.

"You just did that before… brunch," he struggled with the correct term, and it wasn't like he had had much experience with starting a day so late and lazily.

The both of them waved at Taco who appeared determined to knock them over so he could squeeze through the door and wait for them outside, that way he would't be left in the house.

"Taco!" Taylor called from a room connected to the living room, but the dog glanced back to find the man was't visible, hence decided that Taylor wasn't whistling for him; he must be calling for someone else with similar pronunciation as his name.

Shaking their heads in silent laughter, the couple ruffled him behind his ears affectionately and told him once again that he wasn't coming with them. Still, Taco didn't relent and continued to beg them through his round brown eyes; they were sometimes hazel when he was under the bright sunlight.

"Taco, wanna eat?" Sawyer appeared behind said canine while making noises with a plastic wrapper and a single corner of bread inside. The smell and the noise clearly warmed their way into Taco's heart, because he was immediately drawn to it. Sawyer clearly knew Taco better than Taylor, and it helped that he was a dog-lover himself, whereas Taylor was actually not bothered at all; and, this bothered Gail.

Christian closed the door behind them and watched as Anastasia lock it, even though it was slightly unnecessary, he still loved that habit of hers. With his hand over the small of her back, they headed out the door previously busted open by Taco.

"I only brought things for brunch and replaced the broken ones, we still need to buy stuff for dinner and other things that we might want." She removed his hand from her back and grabbed it in hers, soon she was hugging his arm and leaning into his side as they made their way down the block and onto the busier streets in Montesano. "Besides, we've got all afternoon to clear our head, might as well look around. I already forgot what is cheapest at which store."

"Why are you looking for the cheapest?"

"That's how normal people live," she quipped. "We need to live economically even if you do become a multi-billionaire one day. Also, we are spending my money today, so of course I have to choose carefully."

"Why can't we use mine?"

"You've got millions right now but they're not in cash. Do you not realize that you've got less spendable money than I do at this moment?"

"You are technically richer than me. All things considered."

"Yeah," she snorted. "I'm not going to accept the fact that I am the majority shareholder until maybe if we're married."

"_When_ we're married, it's only a matter of time."

She hummed but didn't comment further. She honestly had no idea what made her want to separate their finances so clearly this time, she didn't even do that back when they were faking it over a contract. That urge probably came from the fact that she still felt like she owed the Rodriguez a shitload of money.

_Guess she really did need to sort her shit out. She's getting weirder._

"Your mom doesn't shock me as the military wife type," he mused aloud, changing the subject when he sensed that she didn't want to talk about their assets and marriage.

"She's not," she looked up briefly but resumed her previous position with her head on his shoulder just as quick. "she's from a middle class family in the UK."

"UK?" He stared at her, well, more like the side of her face and mostly her hair.

"Did you not detect her British accent?"

"No, she just doesn't sound exactly someone from the West Coast, but nothing like an English accent."

"Guess you didn't do your research well enough."

"I didn't research on your parents, I only had _your_ background check, which by the way, is still sitting in my email inbox unopened."

"My mom doesn't sound posh, but you'll know what native Brits sound like in Brighton once we visit them. My grandfather is an American. He's a New Yorker, from an upper-class family; at least upscale. When he met my grandmother, he got lured to Brighton across the ocean. Luckily for him, during the times when transportation was shit, he was the very last living legacy of his family line. So, he took everything and moved."

Christian listened with morbid fascination. He never really knew too much about her family, even though they weren't even private like him—they kind of tell anyone anything if they were asked. He didn't say anything, so she resumed her story telling. He didn't stop her, believing that she might need to say those words to alleviate her mind from the brutal lecture earlier.

"My mom is the only one that didn't take too much after her mother, accent wise. She still has that British tone but not posh like my grandmother or other maternal relatives who tend to pretend they were posher than they actually are. My father had an ex-wife."

"He was married before Carla?"

"He had a military wife when he was stationed in South Carolina."

Christian nodded but his interest had already waned, he only put up with her because she needed to talk to distract herself, and he needed to do something to distract himself, too.

"They married before he was deployed. He claimed it was young love and they were kind of rushing into marriage. Then, when he was discharged, he came back and met my mother when she was on holiday with her family in Arizona."

"Love at first sight?" Christian guessed. He really was only curious about the part about how her parents were so compatible with one another since their background seemed so different.

"My mom would say it was; she _is_ a hopeless romantic after all. My dad would say otherwise, because he was still married when they met."

"Have you met the ex-wife before?" He asked, forcing her to fast forward with the story so he wouldn't get called-out for showing morbid interest in her parents' love story.

Before this entire incident, Christian had believed that Anastasia was like a replica of Carla inside out, but now he realized that he just didn't know her well enough because they were so different starting with their appearances and the way they carried themselves. He thought he wanted the love like Ray and Carla, but now he knew that it wasn't just for them.

They were a unique pair.

"Yes, when I was very young. She's supposedly a pediatrician in Arizona. In Tucson, I think."

Christian nodded, she was now deep in thought with her brows furrowed and he had just decided that he he was going to get to know her extended families when he met them in person. With that, he ceased anymore thoughts on the families, and instead stared ahead of him and wondered where exactly they were.

"Oh, shit, it couldn't be," Anastasia muttered to herself.

"What?" Now he was worried.

"The ex-wife…"

"Son of a bitch."

She heard him mutter when her body collided with his, almost emptying the air in her lungs from the crash, and all her thoughts about finishing that sentence from earlier vanished on impact. She had no idea what happened because she was too engrossed in recollecting who exactly was that woman that was once married to Ray. She only knew that she was about to take step after the light changed but her foot never got to touch the ground.

"What?" She spluttered when he led her across the street with an arm snaked around her waist protectively, almost fixing her to his side.

"You were saying?" He pulled her by the shoulders even closer to him and brushed his lips over her temple muttering against her skin. They were now continuing their stroll as if nothing had happened. There was a supermarket or some kind of store in their line of sight, but he had no idea if that was where they were headed, or even what it was called. He couldn't remember the last time he was shopping at a grocery store.

"What just happened?" She asked. She was having trouble grasping her last line of thought, and she was slowly starting to believe that it wasn't important. Not enough for her to remember, at least.

"Nothing, just a speedy mother fucking cyclist who's trying to get run over by cars."

"Pfft, I thought someone was stalking us or there was some kind of threat. Your heart does seem like it's going to pop out of your ribcage at any given moment." Her hand hand landed atop of his heart to steady herself when she was pulled to him earlier, and she could still remember that strong rapid beat against the center of her palm.

"I just don't want anything to happen to you anymore."

She wanted to call him out on how unrealistic he was, but she could sense his urgent need to protect her and make sure that she was unharmed. So, her mind returned to the train of thought that occupied her mind earlier; at least, she thought that was what she had been thinking.

"The ex-wife might be Candy Crush lady, but that'd too much of a coincident to be true…"

"Why are you still hang up on this?" He chuckled amusedly.

He knew her thoughts were jumping around but be didn't know it would be back and forth. They made their way through the entrance, and before them was a busy supermarket, with mostly elderlies and housekeepers or housewives. He had now finally grasped how far away a life from normal people he had lived ever since he was adopted.

There was still an immense psychological impact on the two of them after the Fourth of July, and he was seeking active help from Flynn; however, she wasn't receiving any kind of professional help, having rejected the service at the very beginning.

And now, he was slightly concerned about her mental state. She had obviously been trying to quash any thoughts on the traumatic experience to the back of her mind but he knew that firsthand, it wouldn't suffice long-term. They needed to do something about her feelings, through therapy or whatever other method that would help; because he could feel that even though it seemed disconnected, but her increasing odd behavior and mentality had been related to her psychological trauma that she wasn't willing to acknowledge.

"I don't know," she said carelessly, still being careful when she made the shrugging movement. "They're going to Brighton for this Thanksgiving. I think it's mom's turn."

"What are you talking about?" Even if he had listened to every single word she had uttered, including the mutters under her breath when she bumped into another person as they walked down the narrow aisle in between fully-stocked shelves. He thought it was a small but very diverse store, but what did he know about groceries.

"My parents," she told him as a matter of fact, but it wasn't to him. "They only care about Valentine's Day and the New Year, sometimes Christmas, but all the other celebrations were nothing to them. They would always spend the time with family. Remember when I told you that they'd be in DC, they call it a romantic getaway, but that was actually for my dad's family. My parents call anything a romantic getaway when I'm not with them."

"Where do you fit into all of this, then?"

"I spend every holiday studying, working or with Kate's family."

"So, does that mean you're going to start adding me to your holiday to-do list now that we're a couple again?"

"Are we really a couple now?"

"Yeah," he stared at her slightly affronted, wondering where that comment came from. "That's what you told your parents."

"To get them off of my back."

"You did say you want to be with me."

"Well…" she honestly didn't know why she was so reserved either. It wasn't like she didn't have feelings for him, because that man could still make her feel priceless at her lowest point. Though, that was when he was being sweet, because he could turn into a class-A asshole in a matter of seconds if the right keywords were spoken.

"Do you not want to be with me? Did you think I was forcing you into everything?" He fired off his questions rapidly, and she could sense his insecurities starting to creep in, not that it wasn't there to start with.

"Technically, you didn't answer my question."

"What question?"

"Do you feel obliged to take care of me because you feel guilty about what happened?"

* * *

**Thank you so much for the views and reviews! **

**X**


	42. Moving On From The Kid

_**Moving on from the Kid**_

Anastasia didn't know when she had become one of those light sleepers that would wake up when her partner was no longer in bed, and wouldn't fall back to sleep. It had been happening so frequently lately that she hadn't slept past six as Christian would always head for his run around five—just so Taco wouldn't need to be on a leash as the streets would be practically empty.

Normally, she would debate on showering or making breakfast, but the more she thought about it every day, the more she thought it was pointless for her to shower now only to get under the water again once Christian arrived home. If she didn't have the desire for him to scrub her back, then she'd shower alone, but that desire just never waned.

_So, breakfast it is._

"Yes, mom?" She walked out of the en suite bathroom after to find Christian flopping back down on their bed all sweaty and stinky with his phone pressed against his ear, a look of annoyance across his facial features. It was either she had gotten up later than usual or he had gotten up earlier, because the most she had done was wash her face.

Call her nosy, however, this greeting had got her full attention. Sauntering over, she sprawled her limbs out on top of him, unashamedly pressing her head near his so she could hear what was being said from the phone. If it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to keep her on his body, he would've gladly put the call on speaker.

Giving her a silent kiss as the both of them listened to Grace babble with disinterestedness.

It had been exactly a week since their impromptu trip to Montesano, and she could still remember the morning they return to Seattle, Christian demanded her parents to apologize or at least offer some sort of apology to mend her allegedly fragile heart. Her parents then asked for a private conversation, and Christian excused himself to pack their belongings.

After he left, her parents basically told her that the Greys were young and just starting out when they adopted their three children, so it was understandable that they were making a few mistakes here and there. Carla was strongly convinced that they didn't look past Christian's behavioral change on purpose, or at least that was what she and Ray were trying to use as an excuse so their daughter could get off of this case.

_"So, they shouldn't have adopted such a troublesome kid in the first place! They clearly weren't ready!" Anastasia argued passionately. She glanced at the door from the patio at the back garden, it was left ajar and she prayed that Christian wasn't there, she didn't want to risk him misunderstanding her words._

_"They wanted to start a family, and when is it ever a good time for kids and family? They were young and of age, so they think they're ready, but which couple didn't think that when they planned a pregnancy or an adoption? The reason why we didn't have more kids isn't only limited to the fact that we're too old to conceive, but more importantly because we believe that we didn't have the ability or the energy to deal with more than one adolescent at the same time."_

_"That doesn't give them the reason to neglect their children, especially one that came from such a complicated background! They just threw themselves back into building their own public profile once the adoption came through. Neither Elliot nor Mia felt that they were too involved in their childhood growing up, and they have far less issues than Christian."_

_"They were young, Ana."_

_"Their age doesn't excuse a mistake that lasted for six years!"_

_"I'm sure now that they're older and wiser, the Greys will want to do themselves justice by taking good care of Isaac."_

_The Steeles honestly weren't in favor of the Greys adopting Isaac, they thought the boy needed a completely new environment, but they knew better than to voice their opinion aloud, because it would just fall on deaf ears since they weren't anyone of importance; just like their daughter._

_"I don't know why you're all so willing to hand the poor boy to a couple who clearly lacks parental skills."_

_"Did you think we had them when we raised you? Besides, your words don't count. Whether you are willing or not, Isaac goes where he's assigned to. You don't have the authority to dictate and you don't get to decide."_

_"It's not only about parental skills! They not only accuse me of spreading false rumors regarding their dear friend, but they were also quick to jump to the conclusion that their son, whether he was innocent or not, was going to destroy their celebrated careers. What kind of parents think about their own lives before of their children's?"_

_Carla and Ray couldn't agree more with their daughter's perception of the Greys, but it really wasn't their place to judge. At least not their place to act upon their judgments like Anastasia was trying to do at the moment._

_"Whatever opinion you have of them shouldn't give you the right physically intervene with their decision making. I know you're concerned and worried about the child, but if you aren't the one adopting him, then there really isn't anything you can do. You need to stay out of it before you get yourself into a situation even more difficult to get out; if you get involved."_

_"Self-importance," she scoffed at her mother and huffed even louder when she noticed that Ray wasn't going to make a single comment—either to help with the situation or to further bring Carla's point home. They were only perhaps approximately ten years the Greys' senior, yet those experiences gathered from the decade seemed to provide much wiser insights into life._

_Perhaps it was the decade that became their eyeopener to a grander view in regards to everything. Nonetheless, Anastasia couldn't fathom the reasoning behind the lectures that she had gotten. She thought Christian was the one receiving one, not her._

_Either way, Anastasia had had enough. She wanted to end this discussion before they end on an even worse term. Right now, she knew that her parents were only really trying to help her see what was more sensible._

_Christian appeared at the doorway just in time to inform her that they got everything loaded, including Taco. Sometimes, she wondered if he had put a hearing device on her or that he was actually lurking behind the door._

Christian had already gone back to work full time since the Monday after their return, and today they were scheduled to get her stitches removed. Her suture had healed ideally, the tiny rupture caused by Taco did very little damage to her healing process.

"Mom," he called dryly, heaving a mute sigh and shared an eye roll with Anastasia who had been huffing beside him ever since Grace started talking. "I don't know if you're saying all of this to me out of guilt or for whatever reason, but I can't help you. Anything about Isaac is out of my control. If, like you said according to the young boy that, he would like to return to Detroit and you'd be willing to move with him, then go to the police or the social workers. I honestly don't have any information regarding Isaac's case."

That was a bit of a lie.

They both knew exactly where Isaac was—at an orphanage because he refused all offers to be placed in a foster home. He was lucky enough to be given a choice.

"I'll be honest with you, Christian," Grace sounded desperate, however Anastasia couldn't muster a single emotion of pity for this woman. "We want to move out of Washington State and seek employment elsewhere."

"Are you two fired?" He couldn't keep the astonishment from his tone but he knew his reaction would have little difference no matter the answer. While Anastasia might have been taken the issue with the Greys a bit too personally but he was going to stick with her from now on. His parents had proven to be less loyal than this girl currently attempting to fight off sleep atop of him, and it wasn't going to get him anywhere if he stuck by them and their vanity.

"I am demoted, and any chance your father had to be elected for Washington State Attorney General has vanished."

"Oh," Christian acknowledged dully and flatly. He had expected this somewhat ever since the entirety of the sordid details of his life since his birth had been dug out and unveiled to the public, he knew that people wouldn't let his parents off the hook so easily. There would be people speculating what his family life was like, because there was no privacy when it came to the media and the press; even Anastasia's life was somewhat half-exposed.

"It might be time for us to head somewhere to start over."

Anastasia let out a snort uncontrollably. _Coward._ She thought, failing to realize that her reaction had been captured into the phone call; not that she would care too much either.

"Sorry, mom, Ana's asleep next to me," he winked at her as he made up the lamest excuse. "I can't talk much but just do whatever you and dad think is best." He was tempted to tell them that he had now learned their true colors and would no longer actively seek them out for any kind of help or support. In fact, he wouldn't mind not keeping them up-to-date with his life.

Granted, some might believe that he was a little harsh since they all _did_ play a part in saving his company. However, that was too little, too late in his opinion.

Anastasia chuckled the minute the phone was chucked to somewhere tangling up with the sheets.

"Stop using me as an excuse," she smacked his chest playfully, unable to use too much force given the awkward position she was currently in.

"You are my priority. You come first all the time."

She scoffed but didn't comment. Instead, she clambered off of him and headed toward the bedroom door, preparing to resume the plan to make breakfast. It was still early.

His thought however was still reeling on his earlier comment about her being his priority. He couldn't help but reflect on the past four years that he had been through, even though Flynn had went through helped him make peace with his traumatized toddler life; still, he had too much fucked up problems that probably needed straighten out with. Though, it was a first for him that he was reflecting on his life to begin with.

It was hypocritical of him to keep repeating to her that she was his everything when he was the one who went around fucking subs. He knew exactly how he would react if she told him that she had sexual partners during their time apart, and it was only then that he realized how hideous his double standards were.

Honestly, he had never thought about any of it until he made that comment, it was no wonder she said nothing in response. He wasn't used to people not answering or reacting to whatever he had said, not that he was that important, but people usually would at least indicate some acknowledgement. Perhaps it was him that didn't know his self-worth?

"You're back early." She retreated back into the room after stepping out, breaking him out of his musings.

"I didn't go for a run this morning. There's a call this morning with an international investor wanting to work with my shipyard in Baltimore. So, Taylor and Sawyer took Tucks out and I got a short workout in the gym; ran on the treadmill."

"Aren't you going to shower?" She asked when she saw him still laying on the bed spread eagle with his eyes closed.

"Yes," he answered but made no movement.

"Are you going into the office today?"

"Yes," he repeated. "After you get your stitches out."

"You're coming with me?"

"Yes," he parroted again. "I need you in the office today. People are coming over to discuss the procedure of signing over shares."

"Everyone?"

"According to my calendar, yes."

"What am I doing there?"

"Your signature and presence are both needed."

She frowned, and he didn't have to open his eyes to know that confusion was marred on her face.

"You're the majority stockholder, and that's not going to change, so big changes like this will need your signature and your approval."

"What if something like this happens in the future? Can't you just be some CEO who has all the power?"

"I will bring the papers back home for you."

"I can't believe my signature is going to worth billions one day," she quipped lightly and sauntered out of the room to occupy herself in the kitchen. She was still not a morning person, and getting up so early each day certainly didn't make her feel any better. She just felt sleep deprived sometimes, and she swore she had been taking naps more than pregnant ladies these days just because she was having trouble falling asleep without Christian.

_That shit needs to be sorted!_

"You have too much faith in me, baby," he sighed ruefully but he failed to notice that she was no longer in the room.

He laid in bed for a little bit longer, thinking about anything but nothing at the same time. Nothing had been resolved yet, and he still hadn't answered her question she asked him. He honestly didn't know what he wanted from her, because nothing came to mind when he actually pondered the question, he just wanted to be with her and deal with all of the aftermath from this huge scandal together.

Frankly, he really didn't want to give a shit about anyone else, he just wanted to get his life back on track and back to normal. Isaac, sure he was a poor boy that got taken advantage of, but that wasn't his problem. He should've outed Elena, but at what cost? He was so determined that no one would buy his shit, so why waste the breath when he could just live his life ignorantly. He pitied the young teenager, but that was as far as his feelings went, because the more hang up he was on the issue, the less focus he would put on building his own life. There were people responsible for Isaac, and he should learn to trust them even though he really didn't.

But, he needed to convince himself to let go.

"Are you going to join me?" He yelled, thankfully the apartment was small because there was no way she could've heard him if they were in his penthouse.

"For what?"

"Shower!"

"Yes! Wait for me!" She quickly switched off the stove and placed the breakfast into the oven before scurrying back to the bedroom, making a beeline directly for the bathroom. "You've been thinking."

"Yup, it's tiring," he deadpanned dryly. He wasn't going to bring up what he had been thinking about just because she had finally given up on the idea of interfering with the government just to ensure that Isaac got a decent settlement.

The irony was, when she had finally accepted the fact that none of them were in a place where they could afford to go out of their way to help a boy; he become concerned, and he was only very indirectly related to them.

"Grace said she's demoted and Carrick's hopeless with the next election to become the state's attorney general," Christian said, taking the loofah only to put it back.

She stared at him perplexed but her confusion was soon answered when she got placed under the water with her head tipped backward.

"I'm washing my hair today?"

"Yes, you are," he bossed, but was still distracted by the phone call from earlier.

"I thought demotion was a light sentence." As if reading his mind, she said. It also wasn't completely lost on her that he had referred to them in their first names.

"That's what she told me, but honestly," the feeling of belongingness that never occurred to him in the Grey household once again surfaced. He knew they weren't telling him everything, it was just sad that he had to find out from third parties. "I think she's just putting it lightly." That was the understatement of the century and she knew that he was withholding information since he didn't sound surprised at all from what he was told in that call.

She cocked her head, allowing his fingers to dance over her scalp, making sure her hair was entirely soaked before being moved out of the stream, so he could squirt shampoo on his palm.

"Grace has always been very protective of her career, so does Carrick."

"Your siblings said that they were never really too involved with your upbringings. Something about them too focused on building their public profile and establishing their reputation."

"They are successful in that regard," he concurred, not making a comment about their involvement in his childhood. "The Grey name open doors in Washington; mostly Seattle."

She bit back a moan when his fingers scratched a spot that she didn't know had been itchy. It wasn't the appropriate time. Though, they didn't get up so early only to waste it talking in the shower, she was determined to make good use of their current surrounding.

"I'm surprised your mother isn't fired right away after everything came out. I mean, she is a decorated pediatrician, so naturally, she must be good at her job. She should've already had around twenty years of experience at the time of your… abuse."

"She's human, and humans make mistakes," he defended, bemusing the both of them for the action.

Perhaps he was the one with this so-called Stockholm syndrome that Grace had slapped on Anastasia's forehead previously when they met in the penthouse.

"If she overlooked a patient that's more understandable than missing the signs of the children in her own family; one that spends way more time under her eyes than any of her patients. This only reflects her lack of actual participation in her children's life, which is going to be another stain on her shiny reputation."

Christian pursed his lips and thought. It did sound like a logical argument.

"I mean now that everything has come to light, there is literally nothing that people _don't_ know about you. So, the lack of mentioning of your parents' role in supporting you through all of your troubles is really questionable."

"They're just busy!"

"If they're really so engrossed and excelled in their career, then why didn't your dad put his lawyer hat on and investigate after I outed Elena; gather all information before making a judgment and jumping down my throat? Why didn't your mother notice the changes in you, and the fact that this hopeless kid who couldn't even pass the most basic math test got into Harvard Business School? Most of all, why didn't your parents reach out to you, at all?"

"Flynn wasn't in favor of me seeing anyone that would remind me of the harsh reality."

"That's just bullshit. You see your domestic staff and the two bodyguards on a daily basis, surely the latter is going to be more of a trigger than your own immediate family. He just doesn't trust that you're strong enough to handle anything."

"Okay, maybe I've not provided enough context. You might need a little more insight about me."

"How so?" She was so focused on the dialogue that she failed to notice that her hair was once again being placed under the running stream of water coming cascading down.

"I've never truly felt that I've belonged to the Greys. I thought I don't deserve to have this prestigious name. Seeing them may set me back, in the sense that I'd be reminded of the scandal circulating around me, and subsequently failing them by dragging the Grey name through mud. I've always had a weak mentality, you've discovered that since I told you everything."

"People really have fucked your mind up," she clicked her tongue in pure disappointment at his supposed guardians. "Your parents set the wrong priority for you at the very beginning."

It was now his turn to tilt his head in question.

"All they cared about is how other people will see them, and hence planted that idea in your head. The idea that you need to meet society's expectations no matter how vain you will need to act."

He opened his mouth but his mind was soon flushed with images of his outfits, his cars, his living quarters, his hobbies, and more along the lines.

They were all of famous brands; the newest model; the unnecessarily spacious penthouse; the expansive activities… he was taught that living up to the standard would reflect his wealthy income, and that was the propriety expected from Seattle's elites.

Also known as, rich, shallow people who cared too much about the opinions of the people that were completely irrelevant.

"Then, enter Elena," she continued, mindful of his inner musing thus purposefully breaking him out of it. "She puts more shit in your already shit-filled head. Then, negative times negatives… bam! It's a positive!" She clapped her hands together just to emphasize her sarcasm. "You suddenly transform into this golden boy where every parents would _love _to show off with and the kid everyone _dies_ for."

He rolled his eyes at her exaggeration. She was now on a roll, and he wasn't going to stop her entertaining yet meaningful rant.

"Say for _some_ reason your parents failed to notice the changes in you because, let's say, you're supremely good at hiding and they're too trusting of your own judgement." She continued, waving her hands around, flicking droplets of water in his eyes and making no efforts to acknowledge his discomfort. "Then, Elena goes to adopt another kid. His past resembled yours and such. That all sound legit, until this kid shows up in your parents house looking all battered and bruised, but behaves just like you; I imagine. Over well mannered young boy, he is. Yet, once again, your parents are blind. Granted, that boy also has much more visible bruises than you on the pictures."

"So, what's your verdict?"

"My verdict?" She huffed. "I'm not allowed to judge remember? _It's none of my business._"

He chortled affectionately at her petulant behavior. She could be such a child around him. Not childish, but just taking advantage of his unconditional love, so to speak.

"You just want to vent?"

"Basically," she didn't bother denying it. If she wasn't going to run to him with every problem and go to Kate for it, then they could never make past dating.

"You're still hung up on Isaac?"

"No," she quipped. "I'm not. I just… don't exactly like your parents at the moment. Not their person anyway. They kind of showed their true colors after the whole thing about you broke out."

He couldn't exactly disagree with her assessments. They were all evident-based.

"But my point is," she continued.

"There's a point from all of this ranting?" He mocked, earning an equally mocking glare.

"Point is," she repeated. "Since when did _you_ harbor any dislike toward your parents? Aren't they like angels? Lifesavers?"

"They were, but truth is, they only saved me from the male pimp only to hand me off to the female one. Who's even sicker. So, honestly, the level of trust and security I once thought I felt with them pales compared to what I feel when I'm with you."

"So, you're like… picking sides?"

"They kind of forced my hand, don't you think? They didn't exactly show much remorse other than buying my company shares. I don't know," he groaned in frustration. "I just don't think sticking with them would take me anywhere, while I know I'm going to at least have a life with you."

"You do realize that, while I may not be so amiable with your parents, but we can coexist in your life, right?"

"Yes, but right now, I don't even know if I believe that they'll be supporting me and sticking by me because they didn't really express much interest in rekindling with me either. They just thought once this whole thing dies down, we can just go back to normal and pretend like nothing happened. Since, they thought it's okay to abuse you when I'm not around."

"You think your parents aren't going to fight for you?"

"They didn't when I needed their support. When they didn't believe you but also didn't question Elena."

"No, I mean fight for their reputation, and also to save the family from falling apart?"

"That's already a lost cause. They believed the wrong person to begin with. I don't know how they can be so gullible but they just were, and now that everyone saw what they really are…"

"Oh," was all she said.

"What?" The sudden silence contrasted from her previously chatty persona threw him off.

"We need to dry off now. Are you done?" With that the subject was going to be dropped any time.

He nodded mutely.

"I think you need to think about it a bit more, consider _everything_ then make a decision."

"What decision?"

"To cut off your parents."

He shrugged. After the rather unpleasant phone call this morning, and also a few news links from Kate throughout the week squashed his last bit of high opinions on his parents.

_Seattle General's most decorated pediatrician with 30 years plus experience deemed phony according to anonymous patient responses_

One headline said, while the other said.

_Coping Together, charity for abused children chairwoman suspended from pediatric duty_

That all came before Grace's phone call, so he didn't know why she even bothered.

The headlines alone were enough to make Christian believe that her mother was probably already out of a job before they were even properly settled into this new condo. He only kept it to himself and didn't ask her outright because he didn't want to prolong the conversation by listening to her reasons and lame explanations.

They were all just excuses to save face.

She might be able to bullshit her way out of something no one gave to fucks about, but being blindsided by a pedophile not once but twice for nearly two decades really said a lot about her level of professionalism, and ability as a doctor.

In the past four weeks, he had very limited interactions with his parents—they must be dealing with their own downfall—with all his focus consumed by Anastasia, he had experienced the most down to earth lifestyle in probably his entire life.

In the few days that he had returned to work full time, he would still make time to cook for her, take care of her and just spend time with her.

If he was in this situation four years ago, no matter how intimate and romantic they had been, he'd never felt the strong desire to leave the office before dinner and not work at home, because he'd never felt so content with the idea of going home to his loved ones and make them food to feed them.

"Grace was fired like weeks ago?" Anastasia scrolled down the page, scanning the rest of the article.

"Are you going through my phone?"

"No," she denied automatically, but still flipped the device around to check. "Oh," she realized that it was actually not hers. "It beeped with a text from Kate so I assumed it was mine, even though I didn't save her name under Kate but I unlocked the phone with no problem, so," she shrugged shamelessly. The gesture alone still irritated the wound a little but it didn't hurt anymore.

"She's been fired for a while now, I think." He dried himself and threw on some clothes before deciding that he should probably tend to her too.

"Carrick too?" She continued to tap on the links and read.

"He was on a longer probation than her. Either way, termination is inevitable, hence their decision to move out of the state. They should be glad that they're not blackballed." He let his voice travel through the spacious bathroom as he picked up a smaller towel for her hair from across the room.

"That's what you'd do, right?" She dangled her feet since she had somehow managed to crawl onto the massage bed at the corner with her towel loosely draped over her.

"Most likely," he shrugged nonchalantly, having never thought about what he'd done in the situation.

She looked up at him dubiously as he approached her.

"As much as I don't mind you digging through my shit," he gently removed his phone from her clutch and placed it aside. "You need to dry off before you catch a cold."

"Isn't that what boyfriends are for?" She wrapped her fluffy towel tighter around her only feeling the gush of cool air hit her front just now.

"You're getting clingy," he jibed, throwing the smaller piece fo cloth over her head and started to ruffle it roughly feigning annoyance.

"Can you blame me?" Even under his strong ruffling, she still managed a saccharine tone with the most coquettish coy cheeky grin that she'd ever given him.

"Your skin is growing thicker, woman." She giggled very girlishly when he tilted her chin just to pinch her cheeks playfully.

"You messed up my hair," she pouted her lips and whined like a girl.

"I did? Isn't that what girlfriends' hair are for?" He shot right back with a teasing smile.

She glared at him, feigning anger.

"Mine's the best," he pulled her close granting her a kiss on her forehead.

…

"Don't forget about the muffins," she called from the bedroom dresser where she was checking her reflection after pinching her cheeks just so she could avoid using blush.

"Aren't they cupcakes?" Called Christian from the living room, or kitchen.

"You ate those yesterday, _cupcake_," she deadpanned as she put some finishing touches on her face to complete her simple makeup. She kept it light like her usual appearance when she wasn't attending something fancy.

"I ate the frosting."

"They're for the cupcakes!" She groaned at her clueless boyfriend. "They were going to be cupcakes before you decide to share half of them with Tucks," she grumbled under her breath and made a face at her own reflection to show her dismay.

He got back home yesterday earlier than usual, catching her baking, so he sat there watching and fought for leftover bowls with Taco. The dog obviously wasn't too happy about it but he was helpless. Christian did steal a few cakes here and there before it was cool, and he shared it with Taco, too; pretending that Anastasia never caught him red-handed since the beginning.

"By the time they were room temperature, I find the frosting _and_ the tray of cupcakes half missing." She walked out of the bedroom heading for the kitchen while buttoning her blouse and tidying her collar. All she could see was Christian's ass sticking out of the fridge and his head stuck inside the cooler.

"Didn't you also bake cookies?"

"Yes," she rolled her eyes knowing he would be asking why they weren't on a plate in the fridge anymore. "You ate an entire batch so I had to make another batch and actually _wrap_ it up. I swear you're worse that Tucks," she groaned. "Are you done? Or are you trying to freeze your brain just to keep it fresh?"

"So, what are we bringing?"

"The muffins! That's the only kind which has enough for everyone of your executives," she rolled her eyes again. "You shared the cupcakes with Taco, ate an entire batch of cookies."

"You made another batch."

"I need two batches to make enough for your executives!" _This man is so dense._ She threw her hands up in surrender and turned to her furry baby who had his tail whipping her thigh with his head stuck in the fridge, sniffing through bowls after bowls of food and snacks. _He's just like Christian, no wonder they get along so well._

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	43. Ball Dropping

_**Ball Dropping**_

"Do you know what day is today?" Anastasia rolled onto her stomach, her feet swinging back and forth like a high school girl on the phone with her bestie.

"Monday, August 29, why?" It as just a few minutes to seven in the morning and Christian was in the closet getting ready for work, steam emerging from the opened bathroom door following him.

"Which is exactly eight weeks from the accident!" She exclaimed, as if the volume of her voice could drill the information in his dense head to trigger the response that she was anticipating.

"I didn't know you kept count," he smirked, emerging from their small walk-in closet still fiddling with his top buttons with the remaining items draped across his forearm.

Even in his semi-dressed state with his sleeves unbuttoned and his belt hanging loose around his hip, he still looked sinfully attractive. Nothing like someone who had a near-death experience with the devil herself just two months ago.

"It's exactly six weeks since I got my tubes removed and returned some resemblance of normalcy. Four weeks since we visited Isaac, gave our statements. Two weeks since you returned to work full-time with my handmade thank-you bakery for your executives, which I think you're still jealous of. One week since my stitches are removed. A few days since I got back to work full-time."

"Seems like you've got it all figure out, then," he smirked, having already caught on where she was going with this.

"But you don't look like _you_ have," she inched closer to him and met him at the end of the bed.

With a firm tug of his just done tie, his knees hit the mattress. Their eyes leveling as she was on her knees, only slightly shorter than his full height.

"What have I missed then?" He didn't have to try for a sultry tone when he felt her hands making their way down his front and stopping at his unbuckled belt. He knew there was nothing stopping him from getting hard. It wasn't lost on him that he had just willed his dick to go down in the shower by forcing his brain to be plagued with scenarios of how the meeting with his parents would go. He was reclaiming his shares starting this week after it was rescheduled.

"What do you think?" He gasped abruptly when her hands cupped his full package. He sure had missed this kind of contact.

A slow smirk started to resurface on his face, matching her own. Though, his smirk didn't widen like hers when she brought both of her hands inside the front of his trousers to massage his balls over his boxers.

Throwing his head back, he bit back a moan even though she knew how much he was enjoying this even without his verbal response. That moan. however, quickly escaped his parted mouth as her thumb flicked over his tip.

"Touch me," he pleaded in a whisper with urgency.

That seemed to be enough to snap her out of her equally lust filled trance. Pulling her hands out of his pants, with some difficulty, she eased his fully erected cock back into the tight restraint behind the zipper. She swept her tongue over his bottom lip but didn't enclose her mouth around his like he wanted her to.

"Now, that bulge looks promising," she ran her fingers over his impressive tent below the just buckled belt. It was incredibly tight and uncomfortable for him.

"Ana," he groaned frustratedly. Snatching her hands away from his flies since he knew she was only going to tease him some more. "Why?" He all but whined at her triumphant face.

"You know why. You aren't prepared. Where's your medical test result?" She held out her palm asking for it knowing that he didn't have it.

He sighed with even more frustration because in his current position and status in society, he wasn't able to ask that they test his sample first and speed everything up. Now, he had to wait in line; for weeks.

"You refused to buy condoms," she shrugged, sitting back on her heels.

"It's not like you'd let me enter you even _with_ a condom without my damn blood test!"

"You could've had that ready since I'm still not on birth control," she nodded but reminded. Asking for him to be tested was a reasonable request from her, which only fueled his frustration because he couldn't take his anger out on her. It was him that got submissives, even though he'd never had unprotected sex with them.

Now, he was full-on sulking.

Rightfully so, in his own opinion. She didn't let him get her off using his mouth and that wasn't helping with the pent up sexual frustration now consuming him. Her touch alone was able to make him feel pleasure burning through his body, and for a moment he was proud that he hadn't jerked off or cum at her touch. He was proud that he purposely saved his pleasure for her.

"Don't come," he murmured as he adjusted his trousers while glaring at her. "I'll get you that fucking sheet of paper tonight," with that growl, he smacked a loud kiss on her lips and left the room before she had a chance to protest.

_That backfired._

She groaned loudly into the pillow that she had her face stuffed in.

…

_"What the fuck?!" She slammed her palm down onto the conference table producing a loud resounding cacophonic clap scaring the shit out of every men in the room._

_"Doctor Steele, please," one of the FBI said._

_"No! You don't get to say one more fucking word because you are the representative of the organization responsible for the agony and psychological trauma that Christian and I went through!" She shot up from her seat and her voice raised several octaves._

_"We didn't…"_

_"What exactly took you guys so long to come to a fucking conclusion about that penthouse? To come up with a collective lie about how you FBIs dropped the balls on us not once but _twice_? Not only did you nearly cost two lives but also wasted our fucking time. It's the end of August and that's two months already! Yet, the Lincoln residence had just been swept?"_

_"Escala is the actual crime scene, however the Lincoln residence is not." The equally incompetent chief of police uttered, it was no wonder the FBI they recommended worked at snail speed._

_"So, you need a search warrant and obtain permission from the owner, which happens to be an underaged sixteen year-old teenager. I hardly doubt that this is what delayed your progress!" She didn't allow another syllable out of their mouths. They were already at a disadvantage when the chief of police had a hand in selecting the FBI agents, and in this heavily corrupted world, this team was apparently the worst possible combination according to Barney and Welch's sources in the FBI; starting with the directors._

_"Everything is concluded," the FBI began again, and even Taylor and Sawyer shook their heads at the incompetency shown by the Feds and the police department. It wasn't as if they hadn't file complaint and requested to change the agent in charge, but they were advised that the changes could only be considered after a couple months of trial period._

_That was plain bullshit even in Sawyer's CIA friends' ears. Their director had been dissing the FBI director for the longes time, and that endless rivalry contributed to the prejudice the FBI agents seemed to have against Sawyer._

_"With no apparent valid or presentable conclusion," she finished for him. "You've had all in all, more than two months, at the very least, to come up with an executable plan! I was told that you had people on Elena since at least March or April. So, where the fuck is that blueprint?" She demanded, fury shooting out of her electric orbs._

_"They were actually not the group appointed," Sawyer grumbled after debating silently for the past few minutes whether to reveal this small piece of information or not. "The leader _volunteered_ to take this case, and the other one was assigned an equally high profile case, so we got the incompetent one instead of the competent one."_

_"That's just the grudge held by all CIAs." The FBI said back, knowing Sawyer's background._

_"It is evident that you and your team clearly lacks the skillset. I'm just an ex-Marine, and he also is, so it really doesn't have anything to do with his previous employment before joining my security team."_

_"If you have no reports for us, please stop wasting our time and leave." Christian ended the meeting effectively without tolerating another word from the authority. His voice levelled which was clear that a storm was brewing._

_They were clever enough to head for the door._

_Taylor and Sawyer saw the guests out and Anastasia huffed aloud._

_"A miscalculation," she scoffed angrily, finally sitting back down on the chair. "They let Elena into your home, accosted you but where were they when she made you hang yourself?"_

_"I saw them," he murmured. "I thought they had always been around, just showed up too late or something."_

_"I was already shot by that time then, but what happened to Elena?"_

_"Dead. Sawyer shot her the same time she fired…" he stared at her imploring her to piece the puzzles together, which wasn't hard to begin with._

_"They should've intervened sooner. I didn't see anyone when I entered the penthouse. I mean, _which_ is the part they miscalculated? The part about her with a gun? What, just like Elena didn't anticipate my involvement? And, somehow I sabotaged her plans not once but _twice_? For _some _reason, I'm always in the way. Perhaps I also sabotaged the plans for the Feds."_

_He could only guess that this was what Elena talked about with her when Taylor did CPR on him. He was glad that he didn't sign the DNR when he got her over for all the legal documents._

_"Is that why she shot you?"_

_She shook her head, unsure how much she wanted to dove into. The memories were already buried._

_"I guess that was when the FBIs came in," she recalled a commotion outside before she was shot. "But, no," she sighed, there was nothing stopping her brain from recollecting the sordid details. "She wasn't aiming for me, she was aiming at you," she released another breath and turned her face to watch the busy streets down below. She couldn't bear to see the reaction on his face fearing that he might have a setback; that was pure avoidance, but she just couldn't do it._

_"Are you okay?"_

_Anastasia jumped startled when she felt Christian's fingertips brushing against the back of her hand. When she looked around the conference room, Taylor and Sawyer were already back._

_"Do you want to talk to someone about it?" He offered softly. "I know that this meeting has reopened some of the old… recollections that you just want to forget," he grasped her hand to regain her attention._

_She thought she must've had this hollow and lost look in her eyes for him to ask this question. He had never brought up therapy to her when she decided not to revisit the past, even though she had actually briefly considered this when she saw that Christian was benefitting from his regular sessions with Flynn._

_She just didn't want to rehash it and spend ages on it._

_"We'll see," was all of her reply._

_Her anger had been sidetracked by the calmness in the room now that doodle dee and doodle dumb had left. She really couldn't stomach another word from them. Their tech team had provided _everything_, yet, the official investigation still concluded so perfunctorily. All they were told was that the gun was from Montana, snuggled into Elena's hand by Jack Hyde; the two married submissives demanded compensation while the other three were nowhere to be found. Basically, they just brought a shitload more to their plate._

_"What were you thinking when you wrote those fucking letters?" She demanded the moment she asked Taylor to grab them lunch and Christian instructed Sawyer and the rest of the attendees—Burt, Sam, Barney and Welch—to wait in another room and discuss what could be done, and whom to inform among the executives._

_"What?" Completely taken off guard by this outburst._

_"You told me, or at least your therapist said you don't have any mental illness like depression, yet the content in your death notes seemed anything but written under pressure. Yet, you told the detectives in the statement that you were forced with a gun to your head. Your letters honestly all appeared to be preplanned. The only thing that is preventing me from actually believing that you were depressed and planned a suicide was the use of envelopes; you never fold your papers. Which now leads me to this deduction. Did you honestly thought about breaking your promise to me and succumb to Elena? You didn't showcase an ounce of panic in your writing, only regret."_

_He clenched his jaw to stop it from dropping, but his head did._

_He couldn't fool her with anything._

_"I was right, wasn't I? You were going to give up?"_

_"I was going to use the millisecond that we were both distracted to hurl the chair at her. She was staring at the door frozen when we heard Taco. I slipped when he bursted through the door. We were both startled by the sound and she nearly dropped her gun."_

_"Why?" She groaned aloud at his stupidity, though people would act stupidly under pressure, so she could only think of it as idiotic in hindsight. "Why did you even put your neck through that noose? Why didn't you make a fake knot?" She cried in frustration but she was sure he'd bemoan her lack of effective actions to eliminate the threat after she switched with Taylor for the CPR._

_"She would know if it was fake," he explained, once again reminding her of Elena's intelligence was not to be undermined. "I put my head through because there was no other way of prolonging the time by being authentic when following her instructions. That bought me time until I slipped on my way to pull my head out when Taco showed up."_

_These all sounded familiar because they had heard each others' recount in their statements. Now come to think of it, the statements were collected in a very unofficial manner. They were giving the accounts while the other was present. Technically, this could effect the quality, validity, and authenticity of the statements._

_"I don't feel anything anymore." The pad of her fingers vibrated as he spoke, they were tracing the faintest scar that he didn't know he had. "Is there a scar?"_

_"Not really," there used to be one but in her eyes, they would be present for as long as she remembered the image of him lying on his back with a bruised neck. "This is where the initial damage had been made when your stool was kicked off. I didn't have time to check your nape, so I assumed your cervical vertebra isn't hurt."_

_"You examined me?" That was left out in the police statement._

_"I didn't get to finish it because your heart stopped following your breathing."_

_"So you started CPR."_

_"That's what is supposed to happen. As long as I can still administer CPR without inflicting further injury on a patient, that should be the priority. Keeping the circulation going in the body is the most important."_

_He squirmed when her thumb felt down the cartilage around his trachea._

_"What are you doing?"_

_"This place," her thumb paused at the cartilage ring near his scar, rubbing it repeatedly. "It still feels different from the rest. There," she used both thumbs this time and scooted closer to him. "A little tilted, and not paralleled to the rest. The angle is a bit abnormal."_

_"So, there is permanent damage?"_

_"Do you feel any difficulty breathing, swallowing or any discomfort such as pain when this place is touched?" He shook his head no. "Any abnormal feeling when you move your neck, or restraining your daily movements?" It was a no again. "then, that is what we medically classify as full recovery. No permanent damage. I've never felt around your throat before, so I don't know whether this happened before the incident or because of it. But, don't give it too much thought if it doesn't bother you."_

_The doctor in her accidentally made him aware of the internal scar, and now his mind was going into an overdrive._

…

Anastasia stepped off of the private elevator in Grey House just in time to see the entire Grey clan in the lobby. It was only just after lunch where she spent the morning in a dog park with Taco and a few other dogs that were willing to come out on a rainy day. Monday was her day off because she worked Tuesday to Saturday.

After their busy weekends since two weeks ago starting with the hospital director's son's grand wedding. They didn't turn down a single invitation to social events, until yesterday when they finally had nothing planned.

The day was spent just like how she wished. It was him making it up to her after their unending social affairs since the week she got her stitches removed. She just had to run into her hospital director whose son's wedding took their Saturday and an event that Ros demanded Christian attend on the Sunday. Her lazy takeout day was postponed till two weeks later, decreased from the entire weekend to only Sunday, because that was the only time when they were both at home.

In the end, she did get her wish to spend the day in bed chilling and watching Netflix and eating takeout for every meal. Well, minus the part where they had to take Taco out. Other than that, their pooch enjoyed every second of the day when he was snacking from their food and watching them eat.

Christian on the other hand, wanted so badly to fulfill the chilling part by going down on her, but even _that_ was met with rejection. The furthest he got was fingering her during their very heated make out sessions. He was almost certain that she still wasn't over the fact that he had submissives during their time apart, and regret didn't even begin to cover what he was feeling when he got rejected for offering to eat her out. He didn't even get a hand job, and that was the last straw before he began to feel disgusted with himself.

He kept his distance with her unless she reached for him for most of the evening that day.

Their long stroll with Taco didn't even help his anxiety.

"I'm sorry," she squeaked as the door closed behind her after Andrea brought her a bottle of water. "Tucks got wet, so took me longer," she excused her tardiness and sat at the head of the table.

She then turned her attention to the rest of the attendees, Grace and Carrick, as well as Burt, offering them each a curt nod.

"What are you doing here?" Carrick demanded in a condescending tone, then turned to Christian who sat across them next to Burt and repeated the question in third-person.

"She is the majority stock."

"You have a board now, then?" He inquired as Grace narrowed her eyes at the woman.

Grace thought she had wronged the girl when she heard the state she was in because of Christian in the hospital, then she remembered Elena's words and evidence she'd brought over, Grace now believed in a new theory; and, Anastasia was still the villain.

The siblings had just left after a bonding session with Flynn in the morning—at least that was what they called it. The session was really just for them to get to know each other better. Of course, the parents were invited, but mostly because they felt shameful for allowing such a catastrophe to happen in their family, so they didn't show up to any of the family sessions.

As far as Grace was concerned, Elena was only wrong for praying after young boys, but everything else she had said about Anastasia was right; especially about her intentions to steal from them. Then, there was Carrick, who thought quitting the law firm instead of getting sacked saved his dignity.

"Consisting of me, Ros and Ana."

"You really are going to leave the shares in her hands?" Grace questioned once again, focusing entirely on her son.

"Or would you rather it end up in Elena's?" Anastasia countered but Grace paid her very little regard.

"That's better than you. You aren't professional and know nothing about business."

"Well excuse me, Dr Trevelyan. I am a doctor just like you, hence your foul suggestion to persuade Christian to invest in her stupid salons. I only need to be professional in my area of expertise; the same goes for you. Yet, you failed to even fulfill that duty. At least, no one has died on the operation table because of me, but _two_ people most certainly almost did under your watchful eyes."

Carrick wanted to offer her his own two cents of worth but was cut off by Christian's throat clearing. Even when he wasn't the one sitting at the head of the table, and seemed very unconfident about his personal life, when it came down to business, he could command the entire boardroom from anywhere.

_That_ was his element.

He now felt less need to control his relationship, but his desire for control still very much exist, and it would be solely focused on his professional life.

"If you two are done criticizing my company's majority shareholder, I'd like to start with the procedure."

His parents were obviously stunned by the coolness in his tone. It sounded nothing like the tone they'd ever been addressed to in the past.

Wisely, they shut their mouth and the rest of the meeting led by Burt went smoothly. The Greys now had another goal in mind—to talk to Christian privately and convince him to see sense.

"Ros insisted on taking us out, go find her and I will join you in a bit. Text me the address," he pecked her on the lips before escorting her out of the conference room. The parents weren't the only one wanting a private word.

Anastasia wanted to tell him that she actually didn't want to go, but since Ros insisted on returning the courtesy, referring to the muffins she made for the entire executive staff for their efforts through the hit and for sticking by. She knew GEH would take awhile to pick up and return to where it left off, because a successful attack on the reputation of the company's CEO was like social homicide. There was nothing that could take back what had been said, and the stain would remain until it was covered by a huge accomplishment.

Reputation was critical in _any_ world nowadays.

…

"Before either of you start," Christian perched on the edge of the desk facing his parents who stood side by side before him. "Let me make this perfectly clear. I didn't watch the security footage of what went down at Escala that afternoon when you were all informed of my will, but I do know that you didn't leave a good impression on Ana. I don't know what exactly Elena has brainwashed you with, but I gathered that it's something untrue about Ana. No matter what is it that she got the two of you to believe, I thought the two of you were going to realize that she was wrong about my girlfriend, and I was going to convince Ana to give you guys a chance to explain.

"But, after witnessing how you two behaved toward her earlier, I'm not even sure _I_ want to stick with you guys anymore."

"She destroyed our family, Christian! We used to be a model family," Grace wailed as if she was the one that had been wronged all this time.

Carrick stood by the side silently thinking of a convincing argument that could support his wife's ridiculous one. When Grace cried into his shoulder that dawn on the Fourth of July after learning the fact that Anastasia got shot protecting Christian, he thought she had finally came to her senses that this girl was actually the only one that stood by their son through his darkest time more than any of his family.

While he had realized what Elena had fabricated about the girl was completely false and he had been an idiot in believing her. He thought his wife came to the same recognition, and being the coward that he was, he planned to come out with her so they could face the consequences together of the choices they made in befriending an extremely manipulative pedophile. In that way, he wouldn't be the one to be blamed.

However, it now seemed like they were never on the same page.

Grace was bemoaning the fact that Anastasia went to extreme extent to secure Christian's fortune. She was so convinced that the young doctor had it in for Christian. Wherever the confidence came from made her believe that they had the most precious and special item that this brunette girl wanted so desperately, hence she never gave up on corrupting their son.

Until now, Grace still believed that Anastasia had a hand in the entire drama.

"She didn't, your best friend did," Christian shocked himself with the amount of patience that he was currently administrating.

"Elena is simply warning us about her."

"Oh, and did you forget about the part where she fucked your underage son? Manipulated him for six years?"

"That did help you though. You got in line, you stopped the messed up life you were leading and got into Harvard."

"What kind of parent are you? To think that it's perfectly fine to have your son belted and caned on a regular basis just so you could gloat to your friends, which has ostracized you, about this apparent golden boy." Christian's voice went from an octave higher to one lower.

"That's now what I meant!" Grace cried louder. "It came out wrong!"

"It doesn't matter!" He bellowed, perfectly aware of his so-called father cringing away next to the woman, just because he was proved equally guilty no matter how differently he thought; because it wasn't how he acted. "To think I even thought about keeping you two in my life despite your differences with my girl—because _she_ insisted that I don't cut you off completely. I really should've just went with my gut intuition and leave you two the hell alone!"

Grace's face was now stricken with tears that were dropping on to her clothes, and Carrick stared at his son numbly at the implication.

"I'll tell you what," he took a deep breath and said the most hurtful words he had possibly uttered to anyone. "Now that I've got my shares back, you two are _nothing_ to me anymore. I am so much better off with Ana than with the two of you!"

With that, he strode out of the room, leaving the two middle aged couple on the floor.

At that moment, however, Carrick was more that determined to prove that they weren't failing as parents. When one son closed the door in their faces, he was determined to find that other opened door in Isaac; and, he vowed that they were going to move back to Detroit like what Isaac wanted just so they could focus on him, and be the best parents that they should've been to their three current children.

Nonetheless, getting the adoption through was going to be problematic.

But, he was determined. He just hoped Grace could snap out of whatever sick mentality she was currently in.

…

"Are you two playing footsie?" Christian's question about why they were in the GEH cafeteria got stuck in his throat when he spotted his girlfriend sitting across his COO with both of their heels on the ground and a plate of fries on the table. Most of the employees in the cafeteria turned around to see the rare occurrence of the CEO barreling into the canteen for private matters.

"Are you sugar high?" Anastasia rebutted. "I did found the fridge one cake emptier, and don't say you gave it to Tucks because that's a small chocolate cake."

Christian scowled at her for outing their domestic life, not that anyone suspected that the couple wasn't already sharing an apartment. He felt slightly better knowing that it was just Ros present at their banter.

"By the way," she continued when he couldn't come up with a response. "This is her," pointing at Ros, "idea of treating us to lunch. In the cafeteria with greasy food," she then pointed at the plate of fries.

"No one paid you any less," Christian jibed at Ros.

"My wife forbade me to spend money on stuff like expensive luncheons."

Anastasia sniggered, stealing a fry from the plate that was supposedly Ros's.

"Buy fewer shoes, handbags, clothes, cosmetics, perfumes, and whatever extra things you buy and you can treat us to lunch." Christian rolled his eyes, sitting down next to Anastasia picking up a fry from Ros's plate.

"I already bought you food. See the both of you eating from my plate?"

"Oh come on, woman up, Ros!" Christian stood up, pulling Anastasia with him. "It's my girl's day off, and she's got better things to do than entertain your petty ass, so if you don't make a choice now, I'm choosing the most expensive restaurant in Seattle."

"You can't get a reservation," Ros stuffed the last few fries into her mouth and trailed behind the couple.

"I can," he smirked cockily. Anastasia knew either he really could or he was going to ask José Senior for that reservation.

When they settled into a restaurant similar to the Mile High Club—high-end and expensive—Ros reached for the whine catalogue automatically. The couple raised their eyebrows and shared a look of amusement before returning to their own menu just so they wouldn't laugh.

"We're drinking?" Anastasia finally couldn't help it anymore, the irony was just too loud to be ignored.

"Hell yes!" Ros exclaimed, luckily they were in a private room. "I won't get in trouble if I get my boss drunk."

"You will only be in bigger trouble if I got to work drink," Christian deadpanned, but he would normally allow one or two drinks as long as his employees never turn up tipsy. They should know their limit, and there was no stopping Ros from drinking wine.

Ros shrugged and picked out a wine that Anastasia had never heard of but apparently appreciated by Christian.

"You'll like it, I think. We have one of that at home," he assured the clueless girl that happened to be his. "Not exactly your favorite taste, but I think you'll enjoy this one, too."

"This is so good," Ros moaned after a sip of the beverage.

"And, expensive," Anastasia added.

"Just shut up and drink, Ana." Ros drained her glass and poured another one.

…

SEPTEMBER 2016

Christian was frustrated beyond words could describe. It was now September and he still hadn't got that damn piece of paper to prove that he was clean. He had a box of condom at home and was sure that Anastasia saw it, but the most annoying thing was the fact that he couldn't even use those fuckers!

He was still waiting.

"I vetoed on the documentary idea, you kind of convinced me," he told her, pushing his frustration aside to focus on reporting his day just like he did every day once she got home. He was always earlier than her, and he swore she was working like he wasn't bringing money home.

"Oh, good, because I was going to tell you that won't work. Though, I keep forgetting."

"By the time it's done and out there, people would've already forgotten about the whole debacle."

"My thoughts exactly. So, either it's going to dig up the dirt or not make any difference. Your company will have to come out with the help of time."

"I'm only getting small deals these days though."

"Patience, love."

_Yeah, patience… where the fuck is that sheet of paper?!_

…

Now that all of the shares were signed back except for Anastasia's 51% and Ros 2%, Christian now had 47% which he was happy about. Though, one thing he wasn't happy about was the part where he was informed that Anastasia went to José Senior for the money to buy him out.

He had suspected that Anastasia got the shares from José Sr after he sold them to him, but he didn't want to believe that fearing that she would be in debt. After she told him her entire encounter with the family, he now knew why she was so reluctant to accept the condo.

"Two years," he decided and told her when he met up with her at Northwest where she had returned full time, taking the place Addie briefly occupied. "That's all I am asking," he leaned against the locker as he watched her take off her white coat and hang it up inside the closet.

"Then what?" She asked, tidying her collar and smoothing her dress. She had a surgery scheduled for the afternoon but a very small one, so she was still debating whether she should rush back to change into pants so she didn't have to be extra uncomfortable in scrubs.

"We can move out of the current apartment, even out of Seattle. Whatever you want. I'm only asking for two years to pick up from where I left off."

"Without the help of the documentary?"

"Are you seriously considering the idea? That means we are publicly criticizing _everyone_."

Sam approached them a few days ago suggesting that they make a documentary to completely clear Christian's name so that other businesses would have less reservation when it came to conducting business with GEH, and might be more willing to reach out. The company was currently not showing any signs of improvement, and PR suspected that it still had something to do with the reputation.

Despite many, or the majority, newspapers now singing Christian's praises, none actually explicitly pointed out that Christian was wronged and innocent in all this all along; that he was once again a victim of Elena's vicious attack.

"I'm entertaining it. I think it might help you."

"And you?"

"I'm good. Doctors don't tend to consider too much about our private life unless we're pedophiles or some capital offenders. My research and medical history is bright enough to cover up my stain, at least to not make it so obvious. I still have colleagues talk shit about me or about us behind my back."

They head out the room toward the elevator down the hall where there would be less people since patients didn't normally know about that lift.

"Dr Steele!"

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	44. Second Chance To Make A Difference

_**Second Chance to Make a Difference**_

_"Dr Steele!"_

Both of them turned around to see a nurse waving her arm from behind the nurse station beckoning her over. She was in the inpatient unit today checking on a patient who just came out of surgery yesterday afternoon. They were in the ICU and was just wheeled out this morning, and she just happened to have no operation scheduled, so she stopped by.

"You need to sign this," the nurse pushed a clipboard in front of the doctor and returned to her computer.

"Who's this from?" Anastasia's hand reached blindly for a pen in Christian's chest pocket by giving his front a pat-down, until she was handed one. Her left hand played with it as the nurse explained its origin.

Still, her brows furrowed when she spotted something unusual.

"Adam," she said once the call was connected. "Is this your patient?" She rattled off the information. "Or is this from Addie? The few that she left for me."

Christian zoned out from her conversation, he liked to see her at work just like she did him, but he had no clue what language she was speaking. Even though she just took off her white coat, she still looked much more like a doctor than his mother.

He scanned the hallway as he waited for her to finish up, their lunch date was already going to be cut short because he had a half an hour commute to his offsite meeting, and she had a surgery to supervise later. Seeing that she still wasn't off the phone, and was now twirling the pen in her hand, he knew that they'd have to change plans.

He pulled out his phone to text Taylor to setup their lunch in his office. Then, Sawyer showed up not seconds later after the text was sent looking confused as to what took them so long.

"Doctor Steele!"

Anastasia was still on the phone but Christian heard it. He peered up from his phone expecting another hospital staff asking for her—it was no wonder she was always late to their lunch date—but it was a pregnant lady.

A brunette, who looked really familiar.

"Mr Grey," said brunette acknowledged hiding a gasp but failing to do so as she spoke.

"Yes?" Anastasia pocketed her phone but still didn't look up from the clipboard. Her delayed response only an indication that she had heard the call. She could feel Christian stiffen next to her, so she could only assume he knew this woman.

"Doctor Steele, may I talk to you for a few minutes?" The pregnant lady got next to Anastasia and Sawyer instinctively took a step forward.

"One second," she lifted her finger and quickly signed on the document before returning it to the nurse with more instructions. "Hi, can I help you?" She turned to the woman politely.

"Can we talk somewhere private?"

"Yes," Anastasia led them a bit down the hall to a small room with a bed inside but nothing else. Perhaps it was an extra room or just for storage but that didn't matter. "We'll have to eat in your office," she sighed at Christian as he passed through the door she held open.

Sawyer remained loitering outside of the door, but discretely glancing at the peripheral.

"How can I help you?"

Christian's lips formed a thin line when he took a closer look at this pregnant lady, he knew her. He definitely did. She was one of his five ex-subs, and one of the two married ones. He didn't expect her to show up to stir up drama. The only thing stopping him from intervening was the fact that he didn't part with her on bitter sour terms.

"I'm Patricia Brown."

She said as if it was supposed to ring a bell. It did but Anastasia still couldn't place where exactly had she heard this name from.

"I'm sorry, but are you one of my patients?"

"No," she shook her head the same time Christian blew out a breath.

"She's an ex..." he muttered to his girlfriend.

"Oh! What can I do for you?" Her eyes fell to the wedding band on the lady's finger. "Mrs Brown," she added as an afterthought.

"I know that you're both busy, so I'll be direct."

Anastasia nodded just to remain her professional stance but she, too, like Christian wanted to get on with their lunch.

"I'd like monetary compensation for the distress I've endured."

"I'm sorry?" The Doctor frowned while her boyfriend scowled and almost wanted to throw her out by threatening a restraining order.

"The photos you published from your Instagram account in March." Patricia cued.

"I didn't post these. My account was hacked, it's now deleted." Anastasia's browns knitted tighter, and she could feel her patience wearing thin as Christian was about to explode. "You dropped your charges against me, so I assumed that my lawyer has explained the misunderstanding to you. But just to clarify, I am as much of a victim as you."

Patricia opened her mouth to retort, obvious had something bitter prepared.

"I just conceived. My husband and I have been trying for years. I was only four weeks pregnant then, and was forced to put on bed rest for two months until my second trimester to save the baby because my stress level and blood pressure is not looking up."

"I'm sorry, Mrs Brown, for all the hardship that you've endured, but it wasn't my doing."

"Patricia!" A man stormed inside the room followed by Sawyer. "What are you doing here? I told you to wait for me." He then turned his head to take in the two figures standing across of them. "Mr Grey, Doctor Steele."

Both gave him a curt nod, wondering just how he recognized them. Maybe they were more famous than they realized.

"I apologize for my wife's behavior. She's suffering from nervous breakdowns lately, fearing that she'll lose our child." He explained, looking sincerely apologetic. "I'm truly sorry, but the doctors said her condition was due to stress and we've been trying to free her stress ever since."

Christian wanted to lay it in on him thick, but Anastasia stopped him.

"Focus on sorting your emotions in order," she offered them a polite smile. "Please understand that I am very sorry for the distress that the both you have endured, but it wasn't my fault."

"I thought you were over it. Her lawyer and bodyguard visited us to persuade you to drop your charges, remember? You forgave her. I thought you no longer harbor any hatred for the doctor."

"Please, excuse us," Christian uttered and ushered Anastasia out of the room.

"You and Burt paid them a visit?" She said to Sawyer.

"Taylor did."

"Now I'm worried," Christian sighed when they got into the car. "Leila and co are out there nowhere to be found thanks to the dickhead at the FBI, then one of the stable two accosted you today."

"You think more of them will come out regarding the leak of the insurance photos?"

"They will. It might get them money suing me over this."

"But these didn't come from you!"

"I was the one who took them, so now that Elena's dead, I'm going to be the scapegoat."

_What the fuck?_

Anastasia mentally went over the days since she started working full time, there was always someone watching her. That was what she felt when she was outdoors but Sawyer didn't alert her of any stalkers and she couldn't exactly pinpoint who the stalker was, so she quickly forgot about it. Now that it was brought to her attention, she was starting to believe that she wasn't paranoid but maybe really someone was stalking her.

"Did anyone in your team know where the three of them are?"

"They are still looking. It's not easy to find people when they changed everything from their appearances to their names."

"You think they changed their names?" Anastasia wouldn't be surprised if they changed their faces because she kind of expected that they would since they were somewhat associated to the crimes committed by Elena.

Christian simply nodded.

"So, when the FBI said the married exes are asking for compensations, they meant asking it from you?"

"Seems so."

…

"Anything on Jack Hyde?"

"He's out of the states. Last location is at the Golden Triangle in Asia."

"One problem solved."

"One more persists."

"Didn't you have the whereabouts of the three girls?"

"Yes, I do. They're all in Seattle."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Taylor scratched his head and exchanged a glance with Sawyer, who appeared equally clueless.

"Should we up security?"

"What's the point?" The advisor countered. He had already thought of it. "We can't make our move so soon."

"If we don't, our hands are going to be forced just like last time."

"And, I don't think the Doctor is going to come to the rescue this time; because, she's the target."

"What about the two that wants money?" Barney asked, it was a security meeting that they didn't dare inform the boss about because tomorrow was Anastasia's birthday and he needed everything to be perfect because he planned to take her out.

"If they approach either of them again, they will be referred to Burt."

"Updates on Isaac?"

"He's no longer on our radar. Though, it seems like Grey's parents moved to Detroit just last week."

"Does he know?"

"He probably does because his siblings are still in contact with them. He doesn't really care."

"Did they make a move?"

"The both of them contacted their connections. If whoever granted them this favor, I'd say Isaac is going to be their new purchase."

All faces in the room fell into a grim expression. This wouldn't go down well with boss man.

…

Meanwhile, Christian and Elliot were struggling to keep up with Mia. The both them frequently questioning the reason why they agreed to a sibling day on a Saturday. Just to shop for Anastasia because her birthday was tomorrow?

That was the lamest excuse Christian had ever heard but for some reason, he still bit the bait and went out with them.

He had already had her birthday present prepared long ago.

Still, a physical pre-made one wouldn't hurt. Besides, he was hoping to obtain that long overdue medical report on this day, too.

"Hey man, are you looking for a ring? I see the perfect one," Elliot hollered from the other end of the store warranting more than a few glances in his way.

Christian didn't even want to acknowledge him but sticking with Mia wasn't any better since she was on her way to the next clothing store when she had barely glanced at the items in the current one.

He so regretted spending his Saturday with his douchebag brother and his babbling sister in a mall, of all places. He should've just stayed at home and plan her birthday tomorrow, even if he was alone. They were already extremely lucky that it was on a Sunday, which meant they were both off.

"This isn't even her style." In true Elliot style, he pointed at the first ring he saw on a mannequin's hand. It was just a ring shaped accessory in metallic material.

"Holy shit, you _are_ looking for a ring." He gasped and his brother rolled his eyes.

"Of course I'd be looking for an engagement ring but I would be stupid to buy any right now."

"Why?"

"I'm not proposing so soon."

"You said you already got the blessing and shit."

"That's bullshit. Her parents don't give a crap about marriage. They assumed that I'm going to stick around."

"So they _assumed_ you two are already married?"

Christian rolled his eyes again. To think he used to hate it when people did that in front of him, _oh the irony_.

"It's complicated. You won't understand since you don't even have a girlfriend at the moment."

"Yeah right, that's what the saying is."

"Oh believe me, if I do buy a ring today, I'm going to be regretting my choice come tomorrow."

"So how long are you going to look for one?"

"Maybe for a couple of years."

"You're not proposing for _a couple of years_?"

"Are you deaf today? You sound even more eager than a parent should be."

"No, always am." Ignoring Christian's comment studiously. "Seriously, bro, don't you think your girl would wanna, I don't know, settle down?"

"Yes, in the future."

"Girls her age _usually_ wants stability like, _now_."

"Not my girl."

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't be so confident if I'm not, right? What do you know about the female psychology?"

"So, what are you giving her for her birthday?"

Christian stared at his brother, debating whether he should indulge him in this information or keep it to himself just to stop his big mouth.

"Where's Mia?" He chose the latter.

"Morning sex would be a good start if you want my advise."

"I'd be asking for your advise if you're at least committed if not married," he replied dryly.

"Commitment is _boring_," Elliot dragged out the last word just to emphasize his point. "Won't you grow tired of hanging out with the same girl everyday?"

"My feelings _did_ kind of remain the same for four years."

"Yeah, but you fucked other girls."

"Which is the exact thing I am regretting."

"Ana still didn't have sex with you?"

"No! And do you know how palpable that pent up sexual tension is whenever we're in the same room?"

"You two do live together."

"Not what I meant."

"It's going to be the best fuck, I'll bet."

"Guess we're betting on the same thing," he muttered.

"She's waiting for your health bill?"

"Yup, and I swear it _never_ takes this long."

"Maybe you didn't get the memo that you need to retrieve these papers yourself, in person, from the hospital?"

Christian glared at his brother, but the latter wasn't paying him any attention.

"Where's Mia?" Elliot frowned.

"Oh, so now you remembered that we actually have a sister?"

Elliot rolled his eyes.

"She's holding on to your card, not mine. I gave mine to Ana. So, I think you really do need to worry about where she is."

"Actually," Elliot smirked. "She's not spending a dime from either of us. She got the parents to agree that she gets to _explore_ and _find herself_ until she's ready for college."

"She sure isn't going to culinary school."

"Who cares where she goes, it's not us that's paying."

"We are just _never_ on the same page, El."

"What? We are talking about the same thing."

"It's no wonder you don't have a girlfriend. You are dense as fuck most of the times."

"And you're now an expert at the female specie?"

"No, I'm only an expert on the Ana specimen."

"You know her perfectly well? _Inside_ and _out_?"

"I will be. I have time."

"Mia might do well in fashion. She just has to focus like an adult would."

"Have you seen her growing up? Since when does she focus on anything?"

"My point exactly… oh, there she is."

"Already at the cashier," Christian mumbled the observation. "She has a basket full of… what even are those?" He picked out a few from her selection and squinted at the label.

"They're all from different brands."

"I took them from their sections," Mia explained.

Christian picked out a few more to read the brand names. They all looked familiar, and in his distant memory he recalled seeing them somewhere.

"Oh!" He exclaimed suddenly. "I think they're Ana's favorite brands."

"Ana uses makeup?" Elliot, never getting the point.

"Yeah," his other two siblings stared at him as if he was a very badly behaved imposter of their real brother.

"Are you going to buy some for Ana? I chose some for her for tomorrow."

At that declaration, Christian was suddenly alarmed.

"You do realize that you and Ana has very different tastes in… everything."

"Even in men," Elliot quipped un-helpfully.

"I know. I didn't choose it according to my taste. Duh, brother."

"Let me see them."

"You don't know what she likes either."

"Trust me, I know better than you do."

"He's been studying her like a science subject for four years straight, Mia." Elliot deadpanned in all seriousness.

"She wants a liquid eyeliner but not in this color," Christian started to comment on the stuff that Mia laid out for Ana. "She doesn't use blush all that much, so this is too much."

"How the fuck do you know all the names of those cosmetics?"

"I don't. I know what Ana knows, which isn't even like ten percent of what Mia knows. My vocabulary is bleak."

"Hence why I was shocked to learn that Ana even wears makeup."

"She has public functions to attend."

"Right, forgot about the busy life of the upper echelon."

Christian rolled his eyes and continued to sift through the cosmetics. The majority didn't pass his screening, and he vetoed on the total number as well.

He was already giving her a perfume and the liquid eyeliner that she had been hesitating on getting, despite the fact that she might no longer like them since it was from four years ago. Still, he thought her cosmetics didn't need an upgrade.

"Actually, Mia, if you want to give her something of this as a birthday present, just get her a mascara or a lip stick."

"Mascara? That's too little for a birthday gift." Mia protested, digging through the cosmetics that were laid out on the empty counter, supposedly for Anastasia.

"She doesn't use a lot of makeup."

"She will have to, though. She attends way more galas than Elliot and I combined."

"Don't you think I know that?" Christian deadpanned, _who was her date at every one of those tedious thing_.

"Fine, okay." Mia relented and pushed the rest of the makeup aside, leaving only a couple tubes of mascara and a few lip sticks.

"Keep the mascara," Christian decided. "But change the colors of the lipstick. She doesn't use ruby red, find something darker."

"Is this how personal shopper works?" Elliot piped in when silence occurred between his other siblings. "I'm in desperate need of one, I think. Mia?"

His sister threw him a stink eye.

"How much are you going to pay me?"

"Oh come on, sis, cash is the last thing you lack."

"I lack a boyfriend," she looked up and grinned at Elliot. "Are you going to introduce me to people if I become your personal shopper?"

"Hell no!" Christian interjected, now opening almost every tube of lip stick at the rack dedicated to M.A.C.

"Consider it done," Elliot said, dutifully ignoring Christian.

"What?" Christian glared at the side of his head.

"Okay, deal. Now you gotta give me your credit card."

"What?" Elliot parroted.

"Personal shopper. I need to have your card so I can pay."

"Is that how this works?" Elliot turned his head to Christian who had finally found two that he thought Anastasia would like and handed it to Mia.

"I don't know," Christian replied offhandedly. "I've never had one. Not rich enough to afford one of those."

"Who does your wardrobe then?"

"Myself or Ana. Just like you do yours," Christian stared at Elliot. _Was this his first time coming to the mall to shop with Mia or shop for things and not girls?_

Elliot pursed his lips and mused.

"What are you getting for Ana?" Christian asked as if it was a requirement to bring his girl some kind of present. It wasn't but he wasn't going to pass up a chance for Anastasia to be spoiled.

"Still thinking. I don't know… girls are kind of hard to shop for." Elliot shrugged appearing to be genuinely stuck in some kind of difficult situation.

"It's my girl you're shopping for."

"Exactly. She's got like everything."

Christian narrowed his eyes at him.

"Everything?"

"She's got you, who will get her anything her little heart desires."

"Nothing about Ana's heart is small," Christian corrected unnecessarily, and on cue, Elliot rolled his eyes. "Still, what are you getting her? I'm just curious, I won't spoil it for you."

"I don't know. I don't have it yet. Since you're taking her out for the entire day, I'm sure I'll have the day also to look for something."

"Seriously?" Christian didn't know whether to be offended that his brother was procrastinating on getting his girlfriend a gift but it wasn't like Anastasia was all that important to Elliot compared to himself.

He didn't get the chance to chew Elliot out like he wanted to when his phone rang, and he could see his brother turning away trying to hide his smirk.

"Hey baby," it was Anastasia.

"Are you at home?"

"No. I'm shopping with Elliot and Mia."

"You're shopping? With Mia?"

Christian chuckled at the tone she was using.

"It's unbelievable, I know."

"It's once in a lifetime occurrence. Now I wanna be there."

Christian laughed again. He wanted her here too, it'd make the whole experiment much more fun and interesting than it was now.

"Are you guys having lunch together?"

"Yes, why? Wanna join us?"

"I can't. I wish I can," he could hear her pouting.

"You're heaving lunch now?"

"Yes, I have a surgery starting at one with Adam."

"Oh…"

"I'm heading out for a quick lunch with Adam and a few other surgeons right now."

"Should I be worried?"

She giggled causing him to smile.

"No, but if you are, I can't stop you."

"I always will… worry about your safety."

"I will be fine," she reassured without an ounce of annoyance in her voice. She knew she would've snapped at him for his overprotectiveness four years ago, but she learned to not argue with him on that. "That's not why I called though."

"Oh, I thought you wanted to see me."

"Don't pout, Christian."

That didn't stop him.

"I have a long surgery this afternoon, so I can't be home before dinner."

"Are you still coming home for dinner?"

"If you're cooking. Don't wait up though."

"How late will you have to be?"

"If everything goes smoothly, it should take six hours; but even that's being optimistic."

"Jesus…"

"I know."

"It's way over your shift, can't you rotate out like you did last time?"

"The last one lasted for almost ten hours, and it started at three in the afternoon, so I was only in there for three hours since I stayed an hour longer. This one though, the timing is kind of awkward because it's only supposed to take six hours, so I'm only going to stay two more. Why not just finish my job even if it runs over since I started it."

"What if it runs over?"

"We'll see. I'll be home by ten, latest. You can come pick me up and bring me my dinner if I'm too late."

"I'll cook and then pick you up. Call me when you're done?"

"I will. Also, I have something for you."

"What is it?"

"You have to remind me when I see you," the tone of her voice made his mind went crazy with the possibilities. She sounded excited and mysterious at the same time. "You'll like it, I think."

"I look forward to it, then."

The moment he hung up, both of his siblings gaped at him.

"What?"

"You do domestic work?" Mia asked incredulously.

"Marriage suits you, man." Elliot said.

"I thought you two know that I'm home more than Ana is from those sessions with Flynn."

"Yeah, but none of us believed it. We thought it was Gail doing all the work."

"No, Ana's been particular about my cooking lately."

"No wonder you leave at a decent hour from work."

"I bring work home if Ana isn't home yet," Christian shrugged, officially ending the conversation by asking them what they were going to do next.

…

Christian sat in the driver's seat of his R8 as he waited for Anastasia to come out to the parking lot. He thought about going inside but she insisted that she would be quick. So, here he was in the dark lot with practically no cars in sight as he stared at his phone and then at the exit anxiously. He had chose the closest spot so that she could see the car the moment she walked out of the backdoor as he had turned off all the lights.

He had been driving the R8 quite often lately whenever he wasn't driven around by Taylor, mostly because the garage in this new apartment building only allowed one car, so he couldn't bring his entire fleet over; they were still at Escala.

It was almost nine at night, and even though it was better than coming here at ten or even later, he still thought she could've just rotated out and let the night shift take over. He had their meals in the oven despite her insisting that he shouldn't wait for her, but he did.

Taco was walked and now resting, or probably having fun demolishing the apartment.

He exhaled as his head hit the back rest. He still remembered that she had something for him, and he was going to remind her when she got into the car.

A knock on the window shook him out of his daze.

"Finally," he leaned over to give her a kiss and she met him in the middle over the console as she shut the door and buckled in. "Let's hope Tucks doesn't figure out how to open the oven and dig into our dinner."

"Didn't you eat already?" She asked a little breathlessly as she tidied her outfit and tossed her phone into her purse before zipping it up.

"No," he didn't even know why she bothered freshening up since they were en route to home and all of his cars had tinted windows.

"I told you not to wait up," she scowled at him admonishing him.

"I wanted to."

"I knew it," she grumbled.

"How did the surgery go?" He bit back the comment about her leaving her post when she was supposed to and not go beyond her duty.

"It went well. All things considered. Adam was satisfied."

"Was he the head physician?"

"Not this time, he was just one of the many surgeons. It was a rather major surgery on the spine."

"Isn't Adam the director of the neurology department?"

"Yes, but the patient wasn't his."

Christian nodded.

"I was going to leave at five since Adam told me that it might take a few more hours than planned."

"Why didn't you then?"

"It wasn't that I don't want to, but something happened when I was preparing to leave my post, so I stayed."

"You could've just let your next shift take over. Won't they understand what's going on?"

"They would but I've been there since the start so I will have to hand over when the patient is stable. She wasn't when I left the room."

Anastasia sighed, her head hit the backrest and she dozed off.

"Baby," he opened her door leaning in ready to carry her. "We're here," he crooned in her ear.

It really hurt him to see her working herself into exhaustion as if he wasn't earning a dime for their family. He just wasn't making as much as he used to, but he was still making more than she did. "Do you want me to carry you?"

"No," she inhaled and exhaled deeply, blinking a few times. "I'll be fine. We still need to eat."

He nodded, taking her purse he helped her out of the car.

"I'm so tired," she moaned as soon as they got inside the elevator. Her entire weight was supported by him and her eyelids were already drooping.

"Take a nap, maybe?"

She shook her head. He knew she would want to get everything done and then head to bed. That way she wouldn't have to get out of it again until the morning, in spite of his suggestion that they eat in bed.

"I'll take the food out, go change."

She tossed her purse randomly on to the couch on her way to the bedroom, somewhat aware of a huge canine trotting behind her. He was probably curious why she was feeling so down and barely acknowledged him.

"Evening, Tucks," she sat down on the edge of the bed and started to run her fingers through his thick fur coat when he offered his head to her in between her legs.

He wagged his tail a little bit stronger at the mentioning of his name. He was relieved that she wasn't mad at him, and that was all he cared about.

"Did you eat dinner?" She muttered, still rubbing his fluffy head and neck. He just scooted closer, almost climbing into her lap. He would do that if she stopped the massage though.

"Of course he's eaten and everything. Taco's ready for bed, aren't you, Tucks?" Christian appeared by the doorway and the pooch ran over to greet him before returning to Anastasia waiting to be massaged. "You still haven't changed?" He observed with a slight chuckle.

She just shook her head.

"Come on, let me help you. Are you sure you don't want to eat in bed?" He walked over to her picking up her clothes on his way over. Then, he started to undress her and help her into her clothes.

She shook her head again at his question.

"Dinner's ready. Should I carry you?"

This time, she nodded.

Just when he was about to pick her up, she held out a finger stopping him. He halted and stared at her expectantly.

"Piggy back," she instructed.

"Just in case I toss you around like last time?" He chortled recollecting four years ago.

She didn't react but lifted her arms. Dutifully, he let her cling on to his back lazily. Taco jumped around them, as usual, trying to reach for her ass, her feet and her hands. It was another game that the couple was playing without him, and Taco wanted to remind them to not leave him out.

She giggled into the back of his head when she felt Taco's tongue and nose nudging her feet as they dangled at Christian's sides.

"So, what's the surprise?" He asked her after setting her down at the table and turned around to prepare a plate for her.

"What surprise?"

"The something that you said you want to give me."

"Oh, that! Yeah," she slurped up the pasta sauce and turned around, "it's in my purse. Just go dig around."

He stood up with a mouthful and grabbed her purse.

"What am I looking for?" He unzipped the purse and started to rummage. There was her phone, a few pieces of papers, some cash, and tissue papers, and other small random items.

"Just dump everything out," she told him absentmindedly as she kept on eating. She was just too hungry to even think about what she promised him earlier in the day.

He did as she said, and watched everything fall out of the bag as he turned it upside down. Taco rushed over with his eyes following the items as they fell to the table hoping one would end up on the floor and maybe in his mouth; it really didn't matter whether they were edible or not. He just wanna feel the inclusion.

"Why isn't this in your wallet?" He picked up the wad of cash.

"It's only four hundred bucks."

"Yeah, but what's it doing outside?"

"I got it from the meeting I went to this morning."

"They give you cash for meetings?" He counted the thin stack of greenbacks and set them aside.

"It's a bidding auction."

"For your department?"

"No, for another one but I was selected, so I went. They choose doctors randomly and not all doctors were qualified to attend. They had to be a chief physician."

"You aren't a chief physician."

"I am," she declared. "I'm just not the head of the department. Also, I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm the only one that attended the wedding from my department."

"Favor?"

"Yup. They do that a lot… not just in hospitals but like every public companies or organizations."

Christian frowned. The inside knowledge of a hospital authority truly sounded corrupted, but perhaps that was how the government worked, which was the sole reason why he avoided politics like a plague and only socialize with politicians when absolutely necessary.

"Anyway," she jumped up from the stool still having half a plate of pasta, but at least she got enough in her to function again. "Here," taking the cash, it reminded him of the night when they first met where she also had a wad in her hand. Only that consisted of ones, twos, and fives and this time, it was four one-hundreds. "For you," she took two out and handed it to him.

"Why are you giving me money?"

"These are my extra earnings, and I'll have more if I attend one hosted by a larger company. They give out thousands. Addie got them before, and Adam, too, but he rarely goes to any since he doesn't have time."

Christian was still flabbergasted. The two hundreds in his hand felt so strange. He had never been given money before since he never lacked it.

"Stop staring at me," she returned to her seat and resumed eating when she felt his eyes glued to him.

"Wait, what?" He held up the cash.

"Sharing is caring."

"But I don't need money."

She rolled her eyes. That was the exact response she was expecting from him, though she was anticipating a bigger reaction.

"I know you don't. You make the same amount as my salary in a month, I know that. Still, I want to share it with you since this is extra."

"Keep it for yourself."

"For what? I swipe your card when I go out, when do I get the chance to use my own money?"

"Save it, or I don't know."

"Can't you just accept the sentiment behind it and stop seeing them just as cash?"

She knew he was dense, but she wasn't expecting him to be _this_ dense and hard to get through. She though he would get it by now.

"It's just that, this is your hard earn money."

"And, I'm sharing it with the person that I love, so why not?"

He stared at her.

"Honestly, Christian, no one needs this money, especially not us, but wouldn't you think of me when something joyful happened? Wouldn't you want to share it with me?"

He nodded mutely.

"Exactly. Look, I don't know anything about your work, but you still come home and celebrate with me when you make a breakthrough even if it had nothing to do with me."

He nodded again, finally seeing it the way she wanted him to.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	45. Out In The Open

_**Out in the Open**_

It was the middle of September in Seattle, and the nights were getting cooler. Still, with Taco's thick coat, he thought it wasn't cold enough, despite christian had already got his shirt collar lifted trying to shield some coolness from hitting his bare neck. Tomorrow was Anastasia's birthday, yet, he was still out here walking their hound in the middle of the night.

_"Is this what you were going to give me?" He asked her, holding up the cash briefly before turning to his dinner._

_She shook her head. Then, reached for her phone._

_"This isn't what I was going to show you either, but I think I need to tell you before I forget."_

_Unlocking the phone, it was immediately in the camera app. She clicked into the photo album and swiped a few times before handing it to him, who wanted to remind her of their phone policy but stopped when he detected the somber mood._

_"Have you sen these girls before?"_

_He squinted at the images. Using two fingers, he zoomed in and out trying to get a closer look at the faces. They were all blondes, but oddly, there was a hint of familiarity when he saw them._

_"Where did you see them?"_

_"I think I'm paranoid, but I just feel like I keep seeing a blonde around me. At least they were always just… there. I tried to take a picture of them whenever I see them, since I can't just blatantly stare at them. However," she gestured to the pictures on her phone taken in a span of the last few days. "they all look different each photo. So, I assumed that they weren't just a single person. I just can't figure out how many."_

_"Three," Christian muttered as he swiped through them over and over again._

_He had seen them, too. Somewhere, he just couldn't recall a single detail at the moment. He didn't give it too much thought since he had Taylor with him almost every time he was out in public. Though, Sawyer only occasionally accompany Anastasia to work, much to his dismay; but, she insisted that it wasn't necessary since they were no longer the focus of the media._

_"I'm sending it to my security team," he told her while fiddling with both of their phones. He furrowed his brows trying to decide whether to summon his team over right this second or the next day. He stole a glance at the girl sitting across him, and the fatigue was evident on her face, he decided that neither would happen. They were going to wait until Monday, because tomorrow had to be stress free and fun for his girl; or at least chilling._

_In the end, he simply settled for a text for Taylor, Sawyer, Welch and Barney. The rest would have to wait._

_"So, what _is _this oh-so-mysterious something for me?"_

_He watched her swallow nervously and stared back at him carefully. He now had a bad feeling bubbling from the pit of his gut._

_"Here. This," she reached for the pieces of papers that came from her purse. It was carefully folded but heavily wrinkled, suggesting that it had been viewed repeatedly. "The dates," she added even more nervously and returned to her meal, feigning indifference and nonchalance He took the pages and flattened them out against the table next to his plate, which was now empty._

_"It's my blood test result," he frowned but she didn't meet his gaze. "Is there something wrong with me?" He pondered aloud as his eyes scanned the document looking for the language that he could understand. "I'm clean," he read. Then, he looked again trying to catch her eye but she didn't raise them. So, he went back to searching for the dates like she had told her in the small voice earlier. "What?" He scowled at the numbers he was reading. "I don't understand."_

_"I rushed your blood test," she admitted. She could still remember making that decision on the day she accompanied him to take his blood. He was a ball of nerves; his hands were sweating and slipping from her hold, but it didn't make him loosen it._

_"Why didn't you tell me?" He wasn't mad at this point, not a single bit, he was just confused; he learned to not jump the gun too fast with her. There must be a reason why she did what she did since she always had been reasonable and more rational than him on most cases._

_"It came out on the Friday before I reminded you about the six-week mark, I was going to tell you then, but I… chickened out," she stuttered defeatedly. She was disappointed in herself for withholding this from him but she just couldn't do it. She convinced herself that she couldn't stomach the crestfallen face that he would have when she rejected him on sex._

_"I'm not following," he stared at her even more intently, but with patience._

_"I know you'd get the idea that I probably want to have sex with you because I rushed the results for you, but truth was, I didn't want to."_

_"You don't want to have sex with me? You know that I'd never pressure you into sex, I'd wait for you, right?" He knitted his brows tightly. "Is this because I had other relationships in the four years that we are apart?" He couldn't even pronounce the term for the women he had fucked. He truly felt shameful._

_"I don't know," she murmured, stabbing at the few remaining pasta uninterestedly, even Taco was laying under the table by their feet._

_"Don't spare my feelings, Ana. You told me that you weren't bothered and that you were over it."_

_"I thought I was!" She defended but she really didn't have much of a leg to stand on. "Part of the reason I rushed your test was because I was worried about you."_

_"Worried about… me?" He pointed a finger at his chest as if he needed that hand gesture to make her understand his words._

_She nodded. "There's no better way to put it but it comes from purely selfish reasons just like why I hid your report from you."_

_He frowned. He wasn't angry at her, yet, but he had a nagging feeling that he was going to be upset by her revelations or become angry._

_"I don't know whether you used protection with… those girls after me, so I just want to make sure that you weren't infected with some kind of STD. That was truly for your benefit and I was truly worried about your health and well-being. However, I know that we are going to become intimate at some point down the road at this rate, so I also wanted to make sure that we don't have to worry about anything. Though, that's just me justifying my actions to myself."_

_"What about keeping my results?" He inquired, seeing nothing wrong with her motivation behind rushing to obtain his results but she hadn't broached the reason for withholding it._

_"I wasn't sure if I was ready…" she confessed. "I was always reminded of… your subs… so, I don't know. I said it doesn't bother me, but…"_

_"It does," he finished for her. He wanted to be angry at her for her slight hypocrisy because she was obviously bothered by the fact that he had been with other women intimately during the four years while she claimed that wasn't the case. He also wanted to yell at her for assuming that he'd pressure her into sex the moment his test results came back clean, granted, he did want to have sex with her but if she didn't consent, he'd never force her._

_However, him being him, the disappointment and regret that he was feeling for engaging in the lifestyle after her was surfacing. He sighed heavily._

_"I'm sorry," she apologized after sensing his mood change. It was the last thing she wanted as his reaction, because she was planning on enjoying whatever he had planned for her birthday tomorrow, whether at Pike Place Market or anywhere._

_He shook his head, dismissing her apology which was completely unnecessary in his opinion since she didn't know what her implied assumption meant to him. The guilt and the hurt was both competing to eat him alive, and he had to get out._

_"Tucks," he whistled for their pooch in a quiet and subdued tone as he made his way to the door. The dog bounded over completely disregarding the icy atmosphere in the house._

It was now after eleven at night, and quite frankly, he had no idea what exactly he was out here for; other than indulging in Taco's late night walks that he begged but rarely got. Sure, he was hurt by her implications that she felt pressured to have sex with him, but his actions to take on submissives probably crushed her even more.

Maybe it was just because the both of them were just too unclear with where they drew their line when they split up four summers ago.

Anastasia's birthday was just around the corner and she was alone at home. If he wasn't going to do anything special at midnight, he thought it should be at least decent or better if he was next to her to be the first to wish her a happy birthday.

After spending a few minutes to locate himself geographically with Taco tugging at the leash in every opposite direction from home, he started to drag a very unwilling pooch in the correct direction. For some reason, the more time their dog was outdoor, the more he liked it and refused to return home each time. It was utter bullshit when other dog owners claimed that the dog would stop pulling at their leash and act so excited whenever they go out if they spend enough time outside, because that was the exact opposite in his case.

The more they went out the better Taco acted like it was his first time out the doors in his entire life.

"Tucks!" Christian pulled him back abruptly when Taco charged suddenly at a cat. He was so unlike a Saint Bernard, who stereotypically was always serious since they were working on sniffing out hikers under the snow after avalanche with whiskey around their necks.

He had only been out for not even an hour, or at most, but when he entered the apartment, it was already dark. Taco wasted no time to find his water bowl and get on with everything, disregarding the worry emitting from his male owner as if he couldn't feel it.

The lights were still on in their bedroom, so he thought she was still up, but what he saw stirred u the guilt that had been eating him away for the better part of the walk rather than anger. The efforts that both Flynn and himself paid to convince himself that regret was the most pathetic emotion because what's done's done, so there really was no point in mourning over the betrayal that he thought she was feeling over the entire situation with him and his submissives.

It was his choice, and he gave it to impulse three years ago, so there was nothing that could be done to change the facts.

If he had known that was how their relationship would turn out, he definitely wouldn't even entertain Elena's words… well, he would, but he probably wouldn't act upon it.

Though, that was all part of the _had-I-known_ crap.

Anastasia was laying on her stomach fully clothed on top of the covers sleeping soundly. Her phone clutched in her hand. The idea that even in her exhausted state, she tried to wait up for him made him felt like an even bigger asshole.

Christian debated tucking her under the blanket but after some debate with himself, he settled with lifting the cover around her to wrap her up temporarily. He wasn't even totally in the bathroom when he heard muffled giggles.

"You're not asleep?" He made his way over to the bed and sat on the edge.

"I was," she admitted. "I had a dream," she giggled again softly.

"About?" He humored her.

"I'll tell you in the shower," she flipped off the cover, hopping out of bed and headed for the bathroom starting to undress. "You coming?" She lobbed at him.

He shook himself out of the daze and mimicked her actions. He had been so out of sorts in his private life lately, given that he presumably had been in control before, and ironically, he used to call himself a Dominant.

_Look who's calling the shots now._

It was comical and almost laughable with the confidence that she was demonstrating in their relationship when he had always believed that he was the one in charge in the bedroom. That was obviously an illusion.

"I accompanied you to this conference, and we were making out way out," she began to recount her very short dream animately. Too engrossed in her narration that she had neglected her own shower and also the fact that Christian was scrubbing himself into cooked-lobster color.

"What are you doing?" Her mind was finally coherent enough to process what she was witnessing. Grabbing ahold of his hands, she took a step closer forcing them to be wrapped around her torso.

"Showering," he didn't know why he tried to down play it when obviously nothing could escape her when it concerned him; she was equally protective of him. "Okay, I felt disgusted by myself and the choices that I've made. The submissives and all…"

"You know I overreacted, Christian. I was making a big deal out of nothing and I made… assumptions."

"Yeah, you did," he settled on saying when he was going to say that she wasn't freaking out. "That kind of hurt."

She threw her arms around his neck and touched their fronts together.

"I know," she murmured under the water, her voice mostly carried away by the stream. "I'm sorry." That came out muffled, and that instantly dissolved the tension between them. The elephant in the room sort of just went away with it.

"You know I'd never pressure you into anything, much less sex, right?"

She nodded mutely.

"Good, because I'm going to beg if you aren't ready."

She giggled at that and she could already feel his hands sliding down her bare back down south.

"Please," he made a show of begging pulling his bottom lip out into an adorable pout that almost made her melt.

That only made her laugh harder at him.

"I'm just kidding," he joined her in the cackle. "I'll still beg but don't feel pressured. I'll wait," he assured. "But, in all seriousness," he pulled her away slightly just so he could see her face. "When?"

She bursted out laughing. He was so adorable when he wanted to be. Shrugging, she really didn't give it too much thought, she was just going to take it as another joke of his and not give him a straight answer.

"Before this year ends."

He wanted to ask for a more specific time frame to work with but, in the end, she simply shrugged. When she saw that he wasn't exactly too happy with that answer, she added.

"You won't be suffering from a dry spell for _that_ long," she giggled. "We can start with oral?"

A laugh bubbled through his throat, and in spite of her dangerous glare at him, he couldn't contain it. Instead of explaining to her how her serious mien and the words that tumbled out of her mouth were the roots of his laugh, he tilted her head by her chin and cupped her cheeks, then lowered his mouth to hers.

"What do you say to a hand-job for starters?" A wicked gleam appeared in his eyes when she nodded her head accepting the suggestion eager to reconnect their lips.

…

It was already rare for her to wake up before him, but it was even rarer for her to open her eye lids before him when they fell asleep _way_ after midnight. If she didn't fall into an orgasm-induced coma, he would probably pull an all-nighter just to play with her body.

He surely wasn't kidding when he said he was going to feast on her, because not only did she pass out after several intense orgasms, but she also had half a mind to evaluate her hydration level with the way she was squirting all over his face and fingers.

There wasn't a single muscle that could possibly maintain enough strength to carry herself out of bed, but she certainly wasn't going to waste the rare opportunity of waking up before him. Her core still ached from the ministration from him yesterday night, or perhaps this morning; but, it was her birthday, so she had the right to be petulant.

_Not that she hadn't been petulant around him lately._

That didn't stop her from lifting the covers with every intention of slipping her hand down there reaching for the hard rod that was poking at her naked flesh all morning.

_I slept butt naked and this guy had the nerve to wear an underwear?!_

She seethed silently.

Still, it didn't stop the hand that moved its way down into the waistband of his boxers brief. Her eyes lifted to focus on his face, and she could see that he was stirring but not completely out of his deep slumber.

A moan escaped him when she grasped at his base and started to move up and down all the while shifting his underwear down his hip. He lifted his hips to aid her quest with his eyes closed but very much awake now.

"What are you doing?" He gasped after she got under the covers and flicked her tongue over his tip with her hands now firmly groping on his balls.

"It's my birthday today," she grinned at him from under the lifted covers. "Last I checked," she added cheekily, still cupping his balls. "So, I think I'm allowed to play with you however I please."

He groaned. It wasn't like she couldn't play with him _any_ time, because she had him by the balls, always; and, this time it was in the literal sense. His thought process was interrupted by her mouth enclosed around him, and her tongue relentlessly teasing the tip.

It was driving him crazy. He hadn't felt her mouth on him in _years_, and even though he knew she wasn't the most experienced with oral skills, but because it was _her_, it made the sex simply the best he'd ever had.

"Ana!" He moaned, fighting to keep still but ending up bucking his hips and thrusting into her warm mouth. She wasn't planning on stopping her ministrations anytime soon. It was like she was on a mission to make him cum as fast as possible.

"I'm going to cum," he warned but it was way too short a notice given that she heeded it in the first place. "Ana! Oh, baby…" he panted, reaching down to still her bobbing head just so she could be merciful to him for one second to let him catch his breath. That was embarrassingly short for him as someone who had been practicing orgasm control for a decade, but he wasn't allowed too much time on that thought since she wasn't done with her vicious assaults.

"Did you like it?" She peeked up from beneath the covers staring straight into his eyes, her hands never stopped stroking him.

"You can't torture me like that first thing in the morning," he whined half-heartedly when she climbed up his body and sat her heated core directly atop of his semi-hard member. "Ugh!" He groaned at the contact, instantly recharging his semi to a full. "Gimme a break, honey," he joked, fighting the urge to lift her and just lower her onto him instead of letting her have free rein and grind on him.

She was having an internal debate at the moment. Sucking his dick had been fun and watching him writher at her complete mercy was even better, but she was now soaking wet; and she needed a release.

As she continued to grind on his length, enjoying the sensation she was feeling, she wondered if penetration could be the thing that could tip her over the edge. However, there was still reservation on her part. There was still the fact that he had been with other women that was bothering her, even if part of her mind was telling her to let go, and she whole-heartedly agreed, but another part of her just wanted to remain a hypocrite.

_Maybe with a condom?_

The friction was starting to feel not enough, she needed something stronger and more intense to end her frustration.

_Perhaps a condom could put her racing mind to rest?_

"Hey," he cooed softly beneath her, he could feel her mind drifting off into conflict zone. "Baby," he called again trying to gain her attention. He needed _more_ from her too, all those grinding was driving him mad.

"Where's the box of condom?" She blurted out.

_Oh darn, here I thought I'm going to have to beg for full intercourse._

He let out a sigh of relief. This was what he had been waiting for, even though in his mind he was supposed to be on top worshipping her body, but in his desperate state of mind, he really just wanted to be inside of her. He honestly didn't know why she needed a condom to separate them since his blood was literally flowing inside her veins, but if this was what it would take for him to finally have her; then so be it!

"Bottom drawer of that nightstand," he pointed and she reached out to grab it.

The instant her heat left him, he missed it—even the tiniest friction that he was silently mulling over earlier was now severely missed.

With the tin foil packet in between her teeth and the entire box's content spilled all over the bed next to their heads. She roughly and carelessly shoved the drawer back shut.

"You moved it," she stated through her teeth around the condom. He simply nodded as he watched her return to her previous position and straddled him.

Outside of the bedroom, Taco scrambled to his feet and bounded to the front door barking. He had been busy moving every personal belonging of both owners into the guest room where he now considered his territory; his very own bed was only for show in the living room.

Anastasia's slender finger traced the outline of the key chained to Christian's neck distractedly and her grinding halted. His eyes darted to her right wrist in reflex and enclasp it into his hand.

"Why did you even get one?" She muttered, watching him plant kisses on the palm of her hand. He had no idea that she would be breaking their moment like this but it seemed like legit question that needed answers.

"I wanted to tell you that my feelings for you haven't changed; it never did."

She stared at him intently. Given the circumstances that he had been with submissives, she wasn't sure what to make of that heartfelt declaration.

"You were an asshole."

He scowled despite the lightness in her tone.

"Full disclosure, I don't know where the key went. I truly didn't pay much attention to it because I honestly cannot fathom what you were trying to convey. You were very confusing."

His scowl deepened, this time he truly felt affronted with her nonchalance that he previously mistook as lightness. Suddenly, the notion of them having matching love bracelets sounded childish and naïve; or plain stupid.

"Perhaps we should just take them off?" Her thoughts mirrored his.

"No," his conviction startled the both of them. "I'll toss this key away."

"And we're stuck with this bracelet forever."

He furrowed his brows again.

"It's not practical, Christian."

"Fine, then let's just keep this screw driver somewhere safe. As backup."

He lifted an eyebrow half mocking her and half asking for her opinion.

She nodded once, only remotely comfortable with the suggestion but remained mute.

The doorbell startled Taco, making him leapt to his feet so he could watch over and protect his spoils of war. His barks had interrupted the couple behind the closed door, just when Christian was about to brake it to Anastasia that if he was HIV positive, then portion of his blood wouldn't be flowing through her bloodstream. She still wasn't aware of what had happened in the hospital.

"Fuck!" He roared, throwing open the bedroom door, but it didn't toss the pent up sexual frustration stemmed from being cock blocked away. He was just about to get laid, and he was on his path convincing her to take him bare.

By the looks on Taco's face he was certain that whoever the fuck chose this time to turn up would be ripped to shreds before they even crossed the threshold. The dog had plenty of fun in the rain with Taylor and Sawyer this morning since Christian had asked his personal staff to take care of the hound on Anastasia's birthday. The person behind the door had obviously disrupted Taco's playtime with everything in the apartment.

"Are you expecting anyone?" Her sweet voice did nothing to sooth his boiling anger.

Merely sparing a glance at Taco's way, he made his way to the door while throwing a t-shirt on to cover his naked chest. He idly wondered what time it was, but never bothered to actually check. He had every intention of throwing whoever was at the door out before returning to the warm naked body that was now concealed underneath a white fluffy robe. She was vexed by the interruption, too, but she wasn't showing it on her face like her boyfriend.

Though, she wasn't sure if she could work up the courage to have full penetration with him again. At least not in the recent time.

"It's eleven in the morning and you guys are still in bed?" Mia gasped once the door opened.

Christian wanted to call her out since she never wake up before noon if she could, unless it was Black Friday.

"We fell asleep at three in the morning, not that it's any of your business," Christian answered in an even tone just to keep himself from snapping at his little sister. Behind her though, wasn't a pretty sight. It was Elliot staggering closer to the door following Mia inside but trying to maintain his balance.

Anastasia promptly disappeared behind the bedroom door to get dressed.

"What are you guys doing here?"

"For her birthday," Elliot piped in which wasn't welcomed by Christian.

"So, you decide to barge into our house in the middle of the day?"

"Hey," Anastasia surfaced now fully dressed in a casual attire, rubbing her boyfriend's back.

"Happy birthday, Ana!" Mia quipped enthusiastically, probably a little bit over letting it known that she was attempting to hide something.

"Give me a hug, future sister," Elliot stepped up and pulled her into an unexpected embrace.

"Elliot," Anastasia pulled back wincing, awkwardly showing her bottom teeth when her eyes met with Mia's. "You reek of alcohol," she wasn't sure if she should say that since Christian was already pissed off, and she shouldn't be poking at the tiger's ass.

_Welp, there goes our weekend._

Christian's eyes whipped toward his brother and instantly stepped into pull his girl away. He glared at his brother and opened his mouth asking him to explain, but his question was drowned by Taco's barks which was caused by a few knocks on the door.

"Ethan," Anastasia gasped as the door opened revealing.

"What is going on?" Christian demanded.

_Fuck, he truly is seething mad at the intrusion and most importantly for getting cock blocked._

Elliot sighed heavily and pulled out a chair from under the dining table, and slumped onto it. He slowly opened his mouth the same time as guilt washed over his entire feature. His first words were lost in a gasp coming from Mia where Ethan was showing her something from his phone.

Anastasia drowned out Elliot's babbles as he yapped away trying to make sense of the sequences of the events that happened from yesterday after they all went back to their respective homes after a day of hanging out. The couple at the door attracted Christian's attention but he had no means to deal with both problems at once, so he decided to get through Elliot first.

She only caught on parts of it. She knew that the Grey parents called from Detroit, and it had something to do with either Isaac or Christian, but it was definitely Elena related.

"Why did you get drunk?" Christian glowered at Elliot while sparing a few glances in Mia's way just to keep an eye on what was happening under his roof.

"I didn't plan on getting drunk," Elliot protested. "You know that I'm _not_ an alcoholic."

Christian rolled his eyes. That was completely irrelevant.

"My drink was probably spiked but I don't know because when I got sober enough, I only had my phone with me. Every other items in my pants pockets and my jacket was taken. My phone was hidden in the inner layer so whoever probably didn't find it."

"Who were you talking to."

"I spilled my guts to some blonde there."

Christian growled. He had absolutely nothing to say to his brother right now.

"Did she put stuff in your drinks?" Anastasia finally tuned into the conversation when she could feel the silence creeping up on her.

"Probably," he confessed. "I don't know. I didn't give any names."

"Who doesn't know what the Grey family members look like?" Christian barked at his brother, now towering over him.

"Why were you drinking alone in the first place?" Anastasia asked again, she didn't catch the part about the content of the phone call between the Greys since she really couldn't care less about that two.

"I guess it just finally sank into me that Christian truly cut them off. I was living in this bubble that we can get through everything and return to normal, but I didn't expect mom and dad to run of to Detroit chasing some boy just to redeem their sins. They were shopping for a new son when this one abandoned them."

"I didn't abandon them, they tossed me away!"

"I called Mia after they poured an ice bucket over my head."

"More like wasted a bucket full of ice," Christian sneered, earning an elbow in the ribs from Anastasia who gutted at him silently.

Choosing to disregard the wry remarks, Elliot continued with his narration.

"Wait a minute," Anastasia scanned the surrounding then raced back to the bedroom and came back with her phone in hand. "Do you remember what that blonde girl look like?"

Christian's head snapped toward her having caught on where she was going with it.

"You don't think…"

"It could be," she shrugged at him helplessly. Handing Elliot the phone, she told him to see if he recognize any of them.

"I don't know," he admitted defeatedly. "They all kind of look the same since their faces aren't exactly clear."

"But, is one of them remotely similar?" Anastasia pressed.

After a few pause, Elliot nodded. He swiped the phone to the picture, and Anastasia was in the process of reaching for the device when the apparently unlocked apartment door opened the same time as Mia screamed.

Anastasia's phone subsequently clattered on to the ground from the sudden chaos. Christian's ire only rose higher at the downturn of events of the day.

"What the fuck?" Christian was the first to react, and the fire was shot at the poor security guard at the door now looking frightened. Surely this was the last place he wanted to be in front of the angry man.

"Mr Grey," the man stuttered as he watched Christian snatching Anastasia back to his side when she took a few step forward in an attempt to get closer to the door. "Yo- your car-"

Mia gasped. "I knew it! I was going to get Ana to come and see it."

Anastasia stared at Mia dumbfounded for being cued so randomly.

"Say that again?" Christian demanded as Anastasia got snatched away from his side suddenly.

"Sir," the guard took a deep breath to steady his speech. "Your car has been vandalized."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	46. Ripples Of The Aftermath

_**Ripples of the Aftermath**_

OCTOBER 2016

The apartment was cramped and the floor was simply swamped. It was an unimaginably crowded space for three women. They had their belongings overlapping one another and the clothes could barely distinguish its owner.

"Look at this pile of shit!" One yelled and the rest of the two hustled over to peer over the former's shoulder.

"What does he even bring with him?" The shorter one commented.

"You know what I think?" The one with the most connection at the upper echelon said. The other two spared a glance in her direction out of interest and pure curiousness. She wanted to be queen bee but the rest of the women didn't give a shit. "We shouldn't be focusing on him, we should target Rodriguez."

All she received was puzzled looks.

"If you go around taking pictures of this _elusive club_ membership card you found in his wallet," the same girl continued. "It won't achieve anything significant since the lifestyle has already been exposed. However, I was told very recently that the Senior Rodriguez's time is getting closer, and Junior is going to crumble."

"So is our time," the first sighed heavily. "We were all photographed."

That didn't came out as a surprise but they also knew that their time was limited. The plastic surgery and hair bleach they endured could only hide them for so long.

"Shall we do something to speed things up?" The second one asked but the third one smirked and shook her head.

"Let it be a _coincidence_. We can just sit back and watch nature pull the rug from Junior and we can expose him. He'll never recover, and Grey won't have a leg to stand on once they fall."

…

Her birthday was shit, and their talk had been shittier. Christian was actually sick and tired of Anastasia's work schedule that kept interrupting their talk, which was supposed to have ended long ago. Probably even months, but they still didn't exactly settle anything.

So, a few days earlier in the middle of October, he took a Monday off and forced her to sit in a conference room with him just so they could get everything out on the table.

With the three women, now recognized to be the crazy exes on the run, he had insisted on a CPO for her full time.

One of them wrecked his car, another followed Elliot and emptied his pocket sans phone, while the last one stalked Anastasia.

Initially, she was going to negotiate for a compromise regarding security, but after one of the blonde actually approached her and confronted her, she conceded to having and full time.

The most shocking revelation of course, for Anastasia was the fact that he was the one who donated blood for her. She didn't dwell on it for too long, mostly aware of his trypanophobia, she was only mildly curious about the process; but it wasn't like she couldn't live without knowing them so she'd rather not have him relive the moments.

To him however, was what had occurred in the operation room. Something that neither of the security guards had let him in on. They had informed him of basically everything about what happened in the playroom from their perspective, but none went into details about what went on in the hospital; and also the fact that Sawyer stepped in before the Steeles arrived.

"You flatlined _three_ times?" He nearly fainted at that. The only thing pulling him back and preventing him from passing out was the fact that she was sitting right within his reach.

"Apparently, that's what Sawyer told me, or maybe Addie. One of them since I was talking to the both of them together."

"How can you be so calm about that?" He nearly scratched his scalp open as fear coursed through his veins.

"Because that really isn't something worth stressing over with. It's out of my control," she stated plainly, unsure of how to react to his demeanor at the moment.

He wanted to say more on this subject matter but he couldn't exactly formulate any words. Now that he had let her opinion sink in, he reluctantly admitted to himself that there really was nothing that could be said or done at this point. It had been months already.

"On a happier note," she continued, this time sounding upbeat as if the somber topic discussed earlier was forgotten and completely dismissed. "I met with Jeanie the other day, and guess what?"

"Who's Jeanie?" He asked confused, seemingly neglecting the excitement in her voice. Her face fell for a second but quickly restored the previous expression.

"My colleague. An OBGYN."

He raised an eyebrow, now that got his attention.

"I got an IUD."

He nodded slowly but he didn't dare make any assumptions to the implication of this piece of news.

"You aren't reacting the way I expected you to," she confessed.

"What did you expect?"

"I thought you'd be jumping up and down in joy."

When it took him too long to formulate an answer, she continued.

"Maybe, just maybe… that's a way of me telling you that I'm ready for sex."

"Without a condom?" He took a leap of faith and asked hopefully.

She nodded, because he finally got it.

His phone buzzed in his pants pocket during the short moment in complete silence. They initially agreed on to toss their phone out of the conference room altogether, but given both of their crucial roles in their respective workplaces, they settled on leaving it on silence.

"It must be important," she encouraged gently. She wasn't the one who was so keen on getting the conversation over with, she was more interested in moving on in life instead of revisiting them and talk about them; hence, her reason to not seek out a therapist. Christian was eager to get everything out on the table between them but she thought they weren't exactly hiding stuff from each other.

He scoffed with an eye roll.

"It's my brother," he told her before even glancing at the flashing screen.

"He's been calling since this morning," she frowned. "It must be something important. Take it," she prompted.

"He's been calling since last week," he revealed.

Her brows remained tightly knitted.

"I have been ignoring his calls."

"Why? I thought you guys hashed everything out in the few joint sessions together since my birthday debacle."

He nodded grimly but she wasn't sure why he nodded.

"Something else came up?" She asked in concern.

"Not exactly," he took a deep breath and met her affectionate gaze. "He confessed that receiving the call from the parents isn't the reason that pushed him to the bar that night. He wasn't going to go out that night after taking the call. That's not to say that he wasn't upset when he learned that his parents basically ditched one son for another."

"What're the others?"

"His first response was to call me, but he didn't."

"Why?"

"He said he didn't want to intrude on my night but I'm sure he just doesn't want to hear the whole truth behind why I cut them off in the first place. He was still under the impression that I wasn't going to leave the family and that the family was still tight-knitted as ever."

_Is this guy delusional?_ Anastasia thought to herself but she didn't voice it thought she was certain her facial expression probably said something similar.

"I don't know where he got the idea that we have been a tight-knitted family in the first place, but it is true that he had been heavily reliant on the family's support because he's always trusted that we have his back—which we did, and still do."

"Even your parents?"

"_Especially_ my parents. He was like the golden boy in their eyes."

"Doesn't he has a playboy reputation?"

"Yes, but he's way less a troublemaker than me. I've been viewed as this shady kid with a bunch of skeletons hiding in my closet. Elliot's behavior had been more understandable by the adults. He's a typical teenager after all. That courtesy skipped past me and was extended to Mia. So, the both of them actually believed that our family is loving, while to me it was anything but because I felt like an outlier."

Her face fell at that confession.

"They didn't know that until very recently after they accused me of pulling away from them. They claimed that I was spending too much time with you that I'm not really _into_ sibling bonding with them. It is true that I go to you for practically everything and they knew nothing about my life other than what's been in the news."

She silently mulled over that revelation, and came to the conclusion that it was indeed fact. He turned to her for everything and anything like they were best buddies, and she confided in him like she used to with Kate. They truly were best friends.

"I wasn't pissed that Elliot phoned Mia after he got drunk instead of me. He used to call me and ask me to be his wingman whenever he goes out, but that gradually stopped after we got serious. What I was angry about was the fact that he only thought of me because I'm resourceful."

She now had finally somewhat fully comprehended the depth of the relationship between the Grey siblings. She initially thought they were thick as thieves after those bonding sessions. She thought he just didn't want to sound he was exaggerating when he relayed his day with them on the day before her birthday.

"He lost everything other than his phone, so he thought I was his best shot at retrieving all of his stuff. I don't mean it like I didn't want him to reach out when he needs help, like a hypocrite, but he only reached out to me this time because he needed my resources and not."

He sighed. He wasn't doing a great job at explaining his feelings but she understood him nonetheless. It was the feeling that he felt used and taken for granted.

"There I stupidly believed that he, like Mia, had accepted the reality that I am still in contact with them but not remotely close to them; we don't share the intimacy siblings do. I view them more as friends than anything; just acquaintances," he added accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders.

She wanted him to vent but if she didn't say anything he might mistook her silence as vexed feelings.

"I get it," she wasn't sure if that was the best response, but she was his girlfriend, it was her privilege to side with him to talk shit about whoever and bitch about whatever. Her hands reached across the table to touch his. "That's what I've gathered since you told me about your outing with them that day."

He stared at their linked hands and darted to her wrist, but his thoughts were nowhere near what he was looking at.

Running his thumb over the back of her hand in a smooth circular motion, it seemed to be helpful at making him forget—about everything. Now that they had gotten over the tough parts that no one really wanted to hear, he was starting to reflect on the past few months of their lives, and one question surfaced in his mind. Even though he was more curious about when she'd officially seal the deal with him since she had already told him that she was on birth control.

But, he knew that if he voiced that question, she'd definitely glare at him that said something along the lines of '_are you serious_'. So, he refrained.

"I owe you an answer," he declared suddenly. She tilted her head in question but let him carried on. "You asked me in early August if I felt obliged to take care of you."

She nodded, now recalling that conversation. It never really started and it never ended. It was just on a seemingly indefinite hiatus.

"The simple answer is no."

That was enough for her but by the sound of it, he had more to tell her.

"I've talked to Flynn and rationalized a few things, and the longer answer is, the idea of you moving in to stay with me probably stemmed from my guilty subconscious. However, Flynn also pointed out that the feeling of guilt and shame has been foregrounded by myself ever since all hell broke loose at the beginning of this year. So, I guess, I may have convinced myself to believe that I owe it to you but that is actually the justification for having the confidence to ask you to stay with me."

She listened to his reply intently. That actually wasn't what she really anticipated, because from the past two months that they were together, she had already felt it through his actions that he wasn't doing all he was doing because he felt like he should be doing it in return to all that she had done. He was taking care of her because he genuinely wanted to be with her.

"I do love you, Ana." When she said nothing after his little speech, he said, wanting to elicit some kind of reaction from her.

"There is the difference between loving someone and being in love with someone."

"Yes, I know, and I am _in love_ with you," he corrected. Her reaction was honestly disappointing.

His heart plummeted when she made no sound after his proclamation. He reached for her other hand and held both of them in his hands as he slowly brought them to his lips.

"I know that we lack a little intimacy lately," he tried again. "Not just about sex, but over all affection. We both have been busy and has neglected our relationship, but I was hoping that we'd change it."

She breathed out softly. What he was proposing was also what she really wanted, but for the second time, she seemed to be having trouble finding the right balance between work and life. She knew she had to make more of an effort to connect with him and show him that she did care and did return his sentiments.

"Fuck!" He swore aloud when his phone vibrated again interrupting their moment.

"You should probably get it," she whispered, swallowing the tears that were shimmering in her eyes. She stole a glance at him and was slightly relieved that he was too distracted to notice.

"What do you want?" He barked into the phone and she suddenly felt like she was intruding on a private moment between two brothers, so she took out her own phone and cursed at the message—she needed to go to Baltimore on the weekend at the beginning of November.

Seemed like her end of the year schedule was already packed.

"No, I haven't."

Anastasia couldn't help but eavesdrop that one-sided conversation—she was the only other person in this room, after all.

"I don't intend to recover anything for you, Elliot. You shouldn't have made this poor choice in the first place. I did my best and traced the girl you allegedly saw, your belongings cannot be retrieved. Your other choice is to sue that girl for your items. I cannot help you."

He sounded like as if he knew the identity of the woman that drugged Elliot. As a matter of fact, she believed that he actually had investigated into the three stalkers that she had pictures of, and concluded that they were plotting something together.

"They were my ex-submissives, yes," he confirmed exasperatedly which in a way shocked her. However, she was also faintly aware that this might be the case. "I plan to sue them."

…

"What really is your history with the Rodriguez?" He was still puzzled regarding the issue that she seemed to be more wary of them than he was.

She didn't know why she was asked this but she still humored him without further inquiries. It probably had something to do with the fact that she really hadn't shared that part of her life with him. They didn't exactly go over their lives apart in great detail, only covering the life-changing bit; and more recently occurred.

After she went through the sweet and the sour regarding her encounter with the entire Rodriguez family, she was expecting him to make a comment on how he now understood why she didn't make it to his birthday. He didn't explicitly wrote that he was disappointed in his death note, but the resolute tone had told her that.

What happened on his birthday was entirely a misunderstanding mostly rooted from their tendency to doubt and think too much.

"Yeah, so that's why I couldn't make it to your birthday. It really was last minute. Though, it is on me for chickening out and not informing you about me bailing, but… yeah," she let her voice trail off indicating that she had finished her speech and was now awaiting his verdict.

He sat in silence for a few minutes rubbing his fingers over his jaw as he pondered. It was now painfully obvious why the two of them viewed the Rodriguez family so differently. She was wary and he was friendly.

"I guess I can understand why you're so worry about that family."

She tilted her head to the side and stared at him after his very unanticipated response.

"You're friends with the _less talented_ Rodriguez."

"What does that mean?" She stared at him confused.

He smiled softly and knowingly. She was too lenient and kind-hearted.

"All businesspeople are shrewd and calculated, yeah?"

She nodded.

"But they're reasonable and rational."

"Stereotypically," she assented.

"That's the kind of businessmen that Senior and I am."

"But not his son?" She voiced the unsaid words.

"No," he said as he shook his head. "Junior has the tendency to take advantage of things and situations as an easier means to achieve what he wants."

"Cheating?"

"Not necessarily," he shook his head again. "It's a blurry line but no, Junior is just manipulative. He doesn't cheat but he takes advantage of your kindness."

She frowned.

"The way I see it, I believe he's guilt trip you into staying."

"You mean the time when I missed your birthday?"

"Yes. He's seen the potential in you professionally and know that you will be a great connection to have in his corner."

"So, I shouldn't have taken his money or ask for it to begin with?"

"No, you told me yourself that you cashed in your favor for being your proxy on the East Coast but not for buying me out. He took advantage of your dire situation and desperation to save my company."

"They offered to negotiate with Ros though."

"Senior talked with me," he clarified and studiously ignored her uneasy expression. "That offer was viewed differently by the father and son. Senior sees this as a business partnership but Junior sees this as an opportunity to uneven the favors between you and him."

"He wants me to think that I owe him more… favors?"

"More importantly he wants you to believe that you owe him a lot because of the excessive amount they spent on buying my company out."

Anastasia groaned, this was the furthest theory she could've thought of. Maybe that was why she couldn't make money as quick as Christian could. At the rate he was operating his company at, she was sure they'd be rising to the billionaire status that he had so narrowly missed just last year. Though, that may take a few years still, since he was only just over the millionaire mark.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Start apartment hunting," he listed off with the help of his fingers. "Learn how to say no to Junior when he asks for favors, be more like Adam. Don't act like you owe him because you don't."

"Why not just cut ties with them."

"That's not going to be in our favor. We need a connection like them but we just have to make sure that it remains professional and not too personal."

"Easier said than done," she mumbled dejectedly. This was really turning out to be a larger mess than she had initially anticipated when she started to doubt José Junior's true intention.

"Just limit contact with Junior and stick with Senior."

"So, you're not cutting ties?" He shook his head, then she remembered that technically she was friends with Junior and he was with José Senior, the more reliable one.

…

Ros high-tailed into Christian's office with the door closing on its own behind her. With the way she bumped open the door and strode into the room, people would think she was the owner of this very office. Her eyes darted between the couple and offered them a smile and a courteous nod before pulling a plush chair around the table. She was just about to verbally greet them when her eyes landed on the box sitting in the middle of the table.

"Is that food?"

Anastasia could see her salivating at the cardboard box like Pavlov's dog. She stifled a giggle when she saw Christian's gaze turned from annoyance to beyond vexation and anger. He had assumed that it was for him when Sawyer brought it over on-demand.

"You two were locked in the conference room all morning doing… whatever," she gave the couple a meaningful glare which both of them deliberately ignored. They had been doing some heavy talking and nothing inappropriate. "When did you have the time to bake?"

"I baked yesterday. I intended it to be my extremely belated birthday cake. Just to stop him from finishing it off, I thought I can share it with everyone since it's not a small one."

"And you emptied our fridge, you didn't even leave a slice at home," Christian pouted, sulking rightfully.

"Oh good," Ros exclaimed, "thank god the GEH board only has three people!"

"I didn't call this board meeting for you to eat my cake," he protested. "I'll reluctantly agree to share this with everyone at the executive meeting in the afternoon since it's not a chocolate cake."

Ros rolled her eyes. She had been getting under his skin for over four years since they built this company from scratch together, and she knew him better than colleague that stayed the same amount of time.

"Fine," she conceded, "I'll be waiting."

"So," Anastasia took this opportunity to steer the conversation away from the stand down between the boss and his second in-command. "What about that press conference?"

…

It had been over a month since Elliot cock-blocked his brother, the same amount of time that left Christian frustrated. Anastasia didn't seem to have any intention of rectifying his blue-balls situation. Not that he could put the blame all on her since he had been working late these days as well, prepping for the press conference scheduled before Thanksgiving as well as negotiating with several investors. She hadn't had a light workload either.

"Grey," he picked up his phone without looking at the screen, his eyes fixed on the computer before him with a report drawn up.

"Hey," her soft voice drew him out of his blank stare at the jumble of words on his Mac.

"Hi baby," he couldn't believe that he would still grin whenever she called. He was well aware that they probably resembled a pair of old married couple in Ros's perspective since they hadn't been too affectionate lately in public or in private.

"Do you have lunch meetings?"

"Not today," he let his smile lace with his words.

"Can you come over early?"

"With food?" That had been the best request he had ever heard from her since her birthday and the board meeting a couple of weeks ago.

"Yes, with food." He could hear the fatigue in her voice but also the delightfulness. They hadn't been eating lunch separately for weeks now, apart from Sundays where they would cook together with Taco.

Christian grinned and stood up from his table. Slamming his computer lid shut without a care in the world, he knocked on the door to the security room calling for Taylor as he scrolled through the list of food that he could order from on his phone. The reports be damned, he was going to take an early lunch break today and no one was going to stop him. Dutifully ignoring all the speculating gaze sent from every cubicle and staff loitering around his building, he practically skipped toward the car. He knew there was a spring in his steps.

"Early lunch, what gives?" He asked her the instant he set their lunch onto the table in the empty staff lounge. Doctors and nurses were rushing around in the hallway outside but none paid attention to this room. "You have a surgery in the afternoon?" He took in the weariness written all over her face and his tone suddenly softened.

She shook her head as she peeked through the bags waiting for him to set the table.

"Then what?" He took the seat next to her and touched their forehead just to feel her temperature; she wasn't sick.

"I'm going to a bidding auction this afternoon out of Seattle. I also need to go to Johns Hopkins for a meeting—Addie invited me—the first weekend next month. There's a conference in London around Thanksgiving," she revealed after pecking a feathery short kiss on his lips. "Then, I have to go to Congo before Christmas."

"Back to back trips?"

She nodded with a heavy sigh.

"And, they can't send anyone else?"

She shook her head again. Truth was, they could but she just didn't want to miss this opportunity. It would be fantastic for her career as well as good network.

"Adam didn't get the chance this time, and it's a big one so I can probably get up to a thousand dollars in cash," she lowered her voice considerably since it was technically not in her job description to attend those bidding auctions during working hours; but she liked the extra cash. "Besides, they're going to be more generous toward the end of the year since they need to get their apparatus sold, so I might be going to more of these; and, these people _invites_ me to those meetings."

Christian shook his head in disappointment, it was what he hated the most about doctors. He knew that she had no trouble spending his money but that was also built on the fact that she was contributing to the account. He knew exactly what she meant—the agents were bribing her. The last thing he wanted was for her to get sucked into the black hole of bribery because of a meagre wad of cash that he could easily make in a matter of minutes, or seconds even.

"When are you heading home?" He changed the subject before letting himself voice his disappointment in a public setting. He was going to address this issue with her tonight and try harder to convince her.

She sighed, she knew what was coming next; it was written all over his face and she could read him like an open book. Digging into her food after absentmindedly spending five minutes choosing.

"I'll try to be back at a reasonable time."

"Dinner?"

"Don't wait up."

He lifted an eyebrow, that was their code for returning home very late at night.

"Okay, I'll try to rush back at around seven or eight. It's over an hour drive."

"I'll pick you up."

"What? No, Christian. That's not necessary. Really."

"Gail is going to cook for us tonight and Taylor is going to drive me, and Sawyer will be driving your car back."

That sounded final.

"Okay," she relented. She had totally forgot about Sawyer.

"And, we seriously need to address the problem that you seem to be under the impression that I'm not making money."

"Christian…" she started to protest but was silenced by his authoritative glare.

"We are going to talk about this, at home. You need to understand that I am making more than enough for the two of us."

"Christian, I know that you can probably make my salary in less than an hour."

He touched his finger to her lips, silencing her once again.

"Home," he reminded and also giving their surrounding a once over.

The door opened just seconds later and both of their heads whipped in that direction.

"Oh, Ana, finally," Jeanie, Anastasia's fellow colleague as well as her OBGYN. "I've been looking for you and Adam's in surgery right now."

For some reason, since she worked with Adam so much, their colleagues always thought they were extra close.

Anastasia groaned at the sight of her. Not her as a person, but specifically what she was here for.

"I know," Jeanie sympathized.

"I don't have time to listen to whatever they have to say!"

"I understand, but they are requesting your presence."

"I am not even going to be in the delivery room!"

"You signed off the medication and you are the one who prescribed them."

"Your patients and Adam's are the worst sometimes, I swear!" Anastasia shot up from her seat, abandoning her half eaten meal. "Where are they?"

Christian glanced between the two doctors like a deer caught in headlights. He hated to see her leave with only a couple of mouthfuls but he didn't dare interrupt. He knew firsthand how it felt to be interrupted in the middle of an irritating acquisition.

"Just outside," Jeanie led the way out of the room.

Sighing mutely, Christian returned to his meal and deliberately slowed down his pace so he could wait for her.

Almost half an hour later, she returned, kicking the door shut with a look of utter exasperation on her face as she plopped down in her chair in front of her half eaten lunch.

"Everything okay?" He asked tentatively not wanting to poke the angry bear.

"Some family of the patients giving me shit about the liability waiver."

"Is this patient in a critical condition?"

"She's a pregnant woman who switched to C-section last minute, but she's got all sorts of complications according to Jeanie that it makes it very difficult for me to decide what's the best form of anesthesia."

"Are you going to be responsible?"

"No, I'm not assigned to this case but since I am a chief physician and friends with Jeanie, she consulted me and I advised her to have a liability waiver just in case. You know it costs the hospital tons of money with each lawsuit."

He nodded in understanding but he still thought she shouldn't be held responsible for it.

"There's very little sense that could be knocked into the head of a patient's family. It happened recently with one of Adam's patients but this family is worse."

He had a bad feeling that if this was what she was dealing with in the hospital, then he dreaded to think what José Junior could've done to utilize this situation.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	47. Justice Is Fake

_**Justice is Fake**_

NOVEMBER 2016

"Can you speed it up?"

"Mr Grey, there is a procedure that we have to follow."

"I need to talk to your boss."

"He's currently in a meeting and will be busy for the rest of the week. It is the end of the year, and I'm sure you know that everyone wants to get things done before the end of the year, Mr Grey."

"Tell him to call me at his earliest convenience."

"Mr Grey…"

"You aren't in the position to question me. He is an old friend of mine."

"Yes, sir." That came out forced but at least it was a promise.

"When's the earliest that I can make an appointment to follow up with the procedure or finalize them?"

"Unfortunately, Mr Grey, you'll have to wait until after the New Year."

…

A four-hour drive had restored most of her energy but it didn't stop her from yawning when Sawyer shook her awake.

"You're here," he didn't even get to finish informing her of the plan that the boss had laid out regarding her transportation and safety while in the East Coast when the door was pulled open by an eager blonde standing outside, under the rain.

"Steele! You made it! I've been waiting for you for too long."

"Kate," Anastasia stepped out of the car and waved Sawyer off to park the car. That nap on the drive over had probably been the most peaceful and restful one since jetting off to Baltimore on Friday night with Christian. "Hey."

"Have you been sleeping, _at all_?" Kate narrowed her eyes at her best friend who was seemingly under the weather.

"I have," she conceded having been caught red-handed. "Just haven't been sleeping well, that's all. I have a shit load of stuff."

Kate frowned.

"Did I not tell you?" Anastasia stared at her incredulously. She couldn't believe that there were stuff happening in her life that her best friend didn't know about, maybe she had truly given that title to her boyfriend. He became the one that had to endure her bitching every night and she thought she had been rubbing off on him.

Kate shook her head appearing confused.

"I got promoted," she told the blonde. "I'm now the head of department. Well, I have had this title for a few months now but the transition period is now over and I am now officially the head."

"You never told me that," Kate responded matching the level of enthusiasm the brunette showed.

They ventured into the mall and shedded their coats immediately as the heat indoor hit them in the face. It wasn't even below zero degrees Celsius and public places were already blasting the heat at full force.

"When did this happen?" Kate resumed their earlier conversation, vaguely aware of the same guy who drove her best friend reappearing to collect her coat. She didn't dare question because it only emphasized the point that she had been so out-dated.

"A couple of weeks ago," Anastasia replied. "I guess I told Christian thinking that I've told you that, too, during one of our chats."

Kate shook her head denying the already established fact.

"Anyway, that promotion really got me in a rather shitty position."

They strolled the busy mall glancing at the stores they walked passed. It was their general unspoken rule to always start from the very top of a mall and make their way down as they check out almost every store, while filling their stomach with snacks they bought along the way. That was also implemented when Anastasia took Christian out.

"You've got more work?"

"No… well, yes, but that's expected." They managed to caught the elevator when the door was sliding close and squeezed in the front, and Sawyer barely made it inside if not for Anastasia to move and practically hugged onto his arm and Kate squashed to the corner. "What's worse than the fact that I am only in my late twenties when I got this promotion was the speculation that was going around that Christian had donated a ridiculous amount of money to get me in this position; and it wasn't helping that I'm close to management, _and_ Adam is one of the executives."

"You've got so more shit to deal with," Kate summarized after listening to her rant.

"Yes, and now I've got even more meetings and conferences to attend, even on my day off."

"Like today?"

"Yup, just got back from a conference that lasted for two days in Johns Hopkins. I was invited, or more specifically Addie—the colleague who invited me—wanted me to join her team at JHU."

"Research?"

"And clinical; but if I go it'd be a demotion for me, though I don't exactly care."

"You don't want to leave Seattle at the moment."

"Not at the moment," she confirmed and that was solely because of Christian.

They continued to make small talks as they stepped out of the elevator at the top floor, they were finally away from the crowded space. The both of them unanimously took a turn to the right and started the slow stroll, stopping before a nail shop silently contemplating.

Sawyer sighed, this was going to be a long night. He wished the boss would be here to relief him from the current situation he was stuck in. What he didn't know was that shopping with the two girls in front of him was so much better than shopping with Mia Grey. He shook his head as he followed them into a clothing store, and he dreaded to think the possibilities of them heading into a lingerie shop.

"Ana, what about this one?" Kate held up a dress from the rack.

"What's the occasion?" Anastasia teased when she saw the dress in her arm. It wasn't the casual summer dress or the ones that she would normally wear on a daily basis or to a less stressful day at work, but rather a killer dress to impress someone.

"I didn't tell you about Malcolm right?"

"No," it was now her turn to shook her head. They really hadn't been communicating so frequently lately. Kate had been keeping contact with Ethan but not exactly her since they were both too busy with their work.

"We broke up."

"You didn't tell me anything," Anastasia gasped and removed her eyes from the dress.

"I ended with him a few weeks ago. He came over and proposed the idea of trying poly."

"Like an orgy?"

"No, not to that extent."

"Oh, okay, a polyamorous relationship."

Kate nodded.

"You don't want it."

"I want a monogamous one. So, we kind of got into a disagreement but I ended up terminating the contract."

"Did you two ever date?"

"Nope," Kate's eyes darted to the dress in her hand. "Anyway, back to the purpose of this dress. Guess who I saw in New York's BDSM club a few months ago?"

"Who?" Anastasia humored, she knew she would be told the story no matter how enthusiastic she acted, or the entire opposite. Kate wouldn't contain herself and deprive herself the opportunity of relaying such a juicy gossip.

"Elliot," Kate giggled giddily.

"Grey? My boyfriend's brother?" Anastasia checked. She had gotten used to referring to Christian as her boyfriend to everyone since that was how they address their significant others in the hospital as not everyone knew who they were in a relationship with.

"Yes, Elliot Trevelyan-Grey," Kate confirmed proudly.

"You're kidding," Anastasia gaped, slightly award of her surrounding and the faces that were turning in their direction.

"Nope, am not! He was there, and not only did I see him, he saw me too."

"Do tell, Katherine," she mocked her best friend, only encouraging the smugness on the blonde's face.

"We kissed," Kate shrugged and feigned lameness.

"Stop with the suspense, just spill it."

"Well… we had a scene."

"You did?" Anastasia squealed not so quietly, even making Sawyer wince as he cringed in embarrassment attempting to pretend that he didn't know this woman he was supposedly protecting with his life.

The two women were attracting more attention than Christian could on a casual outing at the moment, and the mall wasn't so empty since it was a Friday afternoon.

"He subbed for me."

Anastasia all but gawked at that revelation. "Holy shit, girl!"

"Guess I'm a switch then," Kate said proudly, putting the dress back onto the rack and picked out another one, pretentiously gesticulating it to her body and twisting her torso before the full-length mirror.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Anastasia giggled when she finally regained composure.

"Nothing," Kate defended half-heartedly, still admiring the newly selected dress; her best friend had long forgotten about updating her wardrobe, she was too interested in the latest development in her girlfriend's sex life. "He approached me actually, and I wasn't planning on engaging in a scene that night, but one thing led to another… it just happened. Elliot told me that he had been a member of that club for a while."

"A while… and you've never met him?"

"Well, a while as in several weeks, maybe?" Kate shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't ask for the specifics but his membership card showed that he's pretty new."

"Is he knew to the lifestyle?"

Kate shook her head as she picked up another dress.

"Then, how was it?" Anastasia whispered scandalously next to her, leaning into her side so her reflection also appeared in the mirror frame.

"Anastasia, what are you up to?" Kate slowly turned her head so their eyes could meet. Squinting at the giggly brunette, she drew out the syllables torturously slow in suspicious.

"Just curious. You know me, I like to gossip from time to time."

"Yeah right, I still think this has something to do with your _kinky boyfriend_."

She shrugged good-naturedly but said nothing. She never entertained the idea of kinks with Christian but she might be open to it in the future.

"It was good," Kate responded lightly the same time she returned to her gesticulation.

Suppressing a laughter threatening to bubbly through her, Anastasia pressed her lips together and glanced around. Her eyes instantly landed on a tight-fitted short skirt that would definitely give Elliot more than a boner.

"You know what?" Snatching the dress from her hands, Anastasia dragged her best friend by the wrist to the other side of the shop and took the one dress that stood out to her off of the rack. "You can do so much better than the ones in the section you were looking at."

"Ana, do you know the reason why I was looking in that section?"

"Because it's on sale," Anastasia rolled her eyes. "I can't believe there'd be a day when a Kavanagh is planning a budget on a shopping trip."

"You're rich and I'm not okay."

"Okay, let me get this straight," the brunette feigned seriousness. "Just because I have a rich boyfriend, it does _not_ mean that _I_ am rich."

"You two are as good as married. You told me yourself that you use his card when you go out."

"That's completely two different things. But, I digress. Still, you shouldn't say that I am rich just because I am dating a millionaire businessman."

Kate shrugged still unbothered by the clarification. It wouldn't stop her from calling Anastasia rich she would just have to do it in private, or in a lower voice.

"I'll get this one," she decided, picking up the one that Anastasia had chosen for her.

"What are you doing for Thanksgiving?" Anastasia leaned against the cashier counter as she waited for Kate to complete her purchase, looking away when she typed in her password for her card. That was quite an expensive dress, and she was somewhat relieved that it wasn't her that was facing this grand figure.

Kate sighed, signing the receipt and picking up the item. Anastasia looped her arms around her elbow and they proceeded to their next stop, with the newly purchased dress in a paper bag on her other arm.

"Believe it or not, I've got an assignment. Gotta investigate."

"Investigate?"

"Ironically, I've been assigned to look into the fall of Coping Together."

"The charity," Anastasia stated trying not to sound stupid. Kate nodded. "What's there to investigate? I'm pretty sure any member of the Grey family can tell you the reason behind it."

"It's really about the Greys failing as parents, isn't it?" Kate knew that her best friend was privy to private information regarding said family, and she had her own theories.

"More or less," Anastasia nodded grimly. "If you really do publish the truth, it's going to expose more cluster fucks that went down in the Grey household."

"As if there weren't enough exposed already," Kate scoffed. That was the universal truth as Christian's personal life had been plastered all over the internet for people to read. "You?"

"Not any better than yours actually," Anastasia grimaced. "I'm off to London."

"Aww… I was actually hoping to crash you and Christian's night," Kate half jested.

"I leave on the Monday of Thanksgiving and return two weeks later, so the first week of December. Then I've got other trips. It's planned so well in advanced that I don't even know what to say to decline it. I can't just tell them that we have shitty budget planners."

"What do you mean?"

"After London I'm going to Congo, and that's a trip sponsored by the hospital board. The board donates money to the hospital each year and if it isn't used, it is required to be returned to the board members according to the percentage of their donation. However, the hospital doesn't want that to happen—obviously—so, there are too much spare this year, and they've decided to send a team to Congo."

Kate winced, that did sound like shitty planning.

"I don't even know what I'm doing on Thanksgiving."

"Where would your boyfriend be?"

"He said he'd try to leave work but I think he's still discussing it with his staff," Anastasia shrugged. "I don't know, I could probably meet my parents or just my maternal family while I'm there."

"They're in Brighton, right?"

Anastasia nodded.

By the time they made rounded to the first floor of the mall, Sawyer was more than ready to shoot himself in between the eyes if the women decided last minute that they needed to visit another place. He was only grateful that they didn't make him the elephant and actually carried their bags on their own.

The boss was already at the door waiting for them and he was instructed to drive the rental car and follow Kate back.

"Who's that?" Kate tugged on Anastasia's coat the moment they stepped out of the exit, and a gust of wind picked up the hem of their coats.

"Christian's rental car," Anastasia replied looking ahead. Sawyer already informed her of her boyfriend's arrival and knew which car would be his.

"No, not straight ahead," Kate's low voice turned into whispers. "Three o'clock, in your peripheral."

Discretely, Anastasia peeked over. A chill ran down her body and she could feel a little bit of her adrenaline being produced and pumped out of her glands. She risked a glance at Sawyer who was now flanking her.

"She looks creepy," Kate continued to stare in that general direction and Anastasia didn't know what to say to her. "Is she looking at you? That blonde hair is so fake, even a worse impression than a blonde wig. Surely she isn't a real blonde."

Under the dim light after sunset, they couldn't make out the facial features.

Anastasia refrained herself from telling Kate to look closer and see if she could recognize the woman standing afar, because she believed that Kate's journalist instinct would sniff out the fake blonde and definitely find her familiar.

"Sawyer will drop you off," she practically ordered her best friend as the door of the rented SUV opened by Taylor. Christian was already inside waiting for her and Sawyer loaded her bags to the back.

"Ana, who is she?"

"I don't know, but just be careful and let Sawyer drive you home."

"What about my car?"

"He can come back and get it for you if you just give him your keys."

"What's going on?" Kate was now on high alert seeing her friend behave in such an authoritative manner.

"It's probably nothing and I'm probably overreacting over my paranoia… I just don't want you to worry but you need to be careful on your way home and I'd feel better if Sawyer's with you."

Kate dropped the subject but that didn't stop her from wanting to know more. They had been missing out on each other's life for too long, and it wasn't helping that they were living in two opposite coasts.

"Okay, I'll accept the offer and hand over my keys," she relented after reading the distress and desperation in between the lines; she was definitely receiving threats lately. And, for the first time, Kate didn't dwell on asking questions on the necessity of Anastasia's close protection.

"Thank you," Anastasia muttered gratefully and got into the car after sending Sawyer a look.

Once in the car, she could sense the tense atmosphere and she knew that not only had her conversation been overheard but both men had also noticed that figure lurking in the shadow.

"I'll make a detour," Taylor answered her unasked question shone through her slightly panicky eyes.

She nodded in appreciation and was immediately pulled into her boyfriend's warm and safe embrace.

"Did you file the law suit?" She mumbled, allowing the fatigue to catch up with her for the first time since they parted yesterday morning.

"Yes," he replied, "and I'm assuming they're looking for her and trying to track her down right now. We submitted all the evidence we gathered, through illegal means or not."

She nodded, understanding the subtle meaning that they at least made everything appeared legal before submitting to court.

"What about your car?"

"It's part of the evidence," he reminded her. "Now, on to the happier note. Though, I'm glad that she hasn't approached you."

"That's because I'm with Kate and Sawyer. I'm sure she'd come ambushing me like last time before Sawyer came back as my CPO."

Christian sighed heavily, connecting his lips to her crown.

"What did you buy today? I've been receiving a lot of texts lately," he teased. "Too many that I'm getting glares from other suits around the table just because my phone was vibrating too much."

"I hope you're not bankrupt yet," she jested. She had been shamelessly using his card and he would receive a text message with each purchase.

"Never. You'll always have money to spend. I'm glad that we got over the issue of who's money is whose. It's really getting tiring," he kissed her sloppily and loudly all over the face and on her hair, making her giggle involuntarily.

"Well, it is helping that you at least allowed me to pay the utilities."

"What about the joint account? Is it time to revisit that subject yet?" He had broached the topic of creating a joint bank account for them but she was adamant that he shouldn't. When he asked her why exactly that was a bad idea, she clammed up and told him that they should revisit this in the future. He didn't give up any chance since to tease her about it.

"Nope, not yet. It's still a no on that bank account."

He pouted.

"Do you think whoever it is that stood there will be going after Kate?"

He shook his head and mumbled a brief answer but that was all the reassurance that she needed.

"I'm just hoping that they don't plead insanity."

Christian sighed frustratedly, he honestly didn't want to talk about any of this heavy shit tonight, he just wanted to be with her. They had been apart for an entire night, and neither of them had slept well. Then, he remembered a conversation that Sawyer secretly reported to him earlier when the girls were shopping.

Normally, he would've told Sawyer off for eavesdropping, but he did find this piece of information very… informative, not in a good way.

She told Kate that she was plagued with nightmares yesterday night, when she spent it alone, and that made him reflect what made his girlfriend go to her best friend instead of him.

"Ana, I need you to tell me something honestly."

She peered up through her lashes tiredly and glared at him, silently challenging him to name a time when she hadn't been frank with him. He deliberately looked away.

"How did you sleep yesterday?"

"I knew Sawyer has a big mouth!"

That stunned Christian into silence. He really didn't know that she was aware of her bodyguard texting him about their conversations.

"I saw him texting right after I told Kate about it," she elaborated. "But, yes, I do have nightmares. Only when I sleep alone in a new environment."

"So, you've never had it when you're with me?"

She shook her head.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It was a one-time thing."

"You're going on trips till literally the end of the year, and you can't bring me everywhere no matter how much I want that to happen. How are you going to cope then?"

"However you coped before you met me."

"Baby, I'm seeing a therapist."

"It helped?" She asked sarcastically.

"It did. Honestly, it really did. I only have them when something ticked my memory. I just have to get over all the triggers, and I was well on my way to get rid of them once and for all before you came barreling into my life."

"More like you snatching me away from mine."

"Either way," ignoring her scoff, he continued. "Do you want to see someone?"

"If you insist," she muttered almost inaudibly like a sulking child who got wronged by everyone.

Christian stared at the top of her head wondering if he had heard it correct. That was the first time that she had even entertained the idea of talking to a professional rather than rejecting it out right. Moreover, it was an assent.

"I'll do it if I have time," she then added a condition and that sounded much more like her usual self in his ears. Though, he still preferred the previous answer.

"Promise me that you will come to me when this happened. Call me if you need to, I don't care when."

She nodded at the sternness in his voice.

"Say it," he commanded.

"I'll call you whenever I need you."

He smiled. That was exactly what he wanted to hear.

"I love you, baby," he leaned down and crooned in her hair. Her response was snuggling closer in his chest but he had yet to hear a verbal response.

"I need to get documents prepared for the visa application, and... wait," she suddenly stopped and his nuzzling also did simultaneously when he felt her tense up slightly. "Did you know that there is someone waiting for me at the gate? Is that why you and Taylor are already here when Kate and I walked out?"

He nodded against her head. Sawyer had texted them of the distant stalker but he didn't want to alert the follower by warning the two girls who had been shopping in utter obliviousness.

"I'm so proud of you; of how you handled the situation when you two finally saw her."

"Do you know the identity of that woman?"

"Yes, she's Leila. The one who vandalized my car and the only one that hasn't been given a subpoena yet. Though, it will be in her hands probably in the next hour."

"On a happier note, Kate also isn't celebrating Thanksgiving," in her haze to roughly consider the details of her near future trips, she had completely forgot about Kate's encounter with Elliot.

"And what does that have to do with us potentially having to spend it apart?"

"We can go to Brighton where my grandparents are."

"Your maternal wing?"

She nodded. She faintly recalled telling him about her mother's British bloodline.

"I might have to teach you some French now," he smirked, giving her side a gentle squeeze, not enough to make her tickle but still made her squirm.

"Maybe," she giggled lightly. "Is Ros still not letting you off?"

"No," he sighed shaking his head. "I was trying to make her believe that I'm going to some conference or some university for a lecture, but she wasn't buying it."

Anastasia laughed. That was utter bullshit. "I wouldn't believe it if I was her."

"Yeah, but you would definitely be supporting me now. Unless you don't want me there."

"If only I could convince Ros but the moment she throws some corporate shit to me, I'll be like you need to stay, what if something happens to your company."

Christian chuckled. "Just don't let her get to you. Ignore whatever bullshit she's feeding you and put your foot down saying that you need me with you."

"When's the press conference again?"

"The week of Thanksgiving. I'll be leaving right after to join you in… where? Brighton?" He teased.

Rolling her eyes, she was suddenly reminded of the conversation of Kate's latest fling and she wondered if Sawyer also reported that to Christian.

"Did you know that Elliot was here a few months ago?" She blurted out of the blue, her head lifted so she could see his reaction, but she was met with the bottom of his chin. Unconsciously, she studied the stubbles that were starting to show.

He shook his head and peered down having felt her stare.

"How did you know?"

His phone interrupted her reply. He was sure that he had told everyone to not bother him for the rest of the weekend and Monday until he landed in Seattle, so it couldn't be work.

_Could it?_

"It's a text," he announced as he unlocked his phone. She could see his screen from where her head was positioned.

"From your head of PR," she read.

He clicked into it and it was a link… several links starting with one that redirected them to the _Seattle Nooz_.

"Oh fuck…" she murmured the moment she saw the title. It was the exact same thing she wanted to tell him before his phone beeped.

_Seattle Playboy Venturing into New World, Following the Footsteps of Younger Brother?_

"I was just about to tell you this…" she didn't know whether she had said this aloud or that her speech was clear enough for him to understand.

As they scanned through the many articles sent over to him, she briefly wondered just how taboo that lifestyle actually was. Quite frankly, she thought people had already gotten over the fact that Seattle's elite bachelor was one of the many participants in this lifestyle.

Again, it was just a lifestyle. Just like how rich individuals often live a luxurious life and poor ones lived an abstemious one.

Why would people even fuss and judge about having particular tastes and demands in their sex lives? Some people just wouldn't mind their own business and that was how the media outlet earned money.

"His membership card was found," he summarized out loud, echoing her own thought when they stumbled passed one photo after another of Elliot's membership card to the exclusive club in uptown New York.

"Most likely the very one that Kate met him in."

"I honestly couldn't care less about what he does but that fucker just has to drag me into the mud once again!"

She pulled away feeling that he was about to launch his phone at the back of the driver's seat.

"I just wish my so-called family wouldn't be such a let-down each time I make some progress in my life," he lamented.

She felt like he had the right to point them in the nose and blame them for all the failures he had endured in his life. He had worked hard to receive the achievements that he had in the business venture, and made a name for himself. Instead of making his parents proud, they had shown nearly zero interest in his life other than whether he had lived up to expectations.

"What about the press conference? Do you think it'll help your case?"

"I needed it to help solidify my stance that my private life is nothing criminal and that I am not the kind of person that the press has depicted. Despite the counter strategies Sam has used through this year, I don't see the effectiveness."

"Or maybe it was the face that the attack was too relentless that it didn't give you any space to breath and come up for air. It is true that everyone as their spearhead directed at you without giving you a chance to explain yourself. If you defend yourself, they're going to attack more viciously by calling you names."

"Burt suggested that I sue the American media for defamation and slander."

"So, have you done it?"

"It's been filed along with this new piece of evidence earlier this week."

"Is there a date for the court hearing?"

"Next year, still undetermined."

…

"Mr Grey, your brother's membership card to an elusive BDSM club was found left unguarded on a counter at a bar; he was reported to have been spotted in that establishment a few days ago with a blonde female companion. Insider has confirmed that the membership card is indeed valid, was your brother introduced to the lifestyle through the same mechanism as you?"

"No comment," that was what Christian had been repeating time and time again when another question regarding his personal life with Anastasia had been asked. He wasn't going to let them intrude on his love life, especially now that he got the woman he had always wanted; they were going to be a normal couple.

"Do you think the law enforcement has done you justice?" One of the reporter asked.

"Mr Grey would like to maintain the focus on his company," Sam responded professionally, shutting the reporter down.

"Justice?" Christian scoffed. "Justice is overrated."

The crowd gasped, and he was vaguely aware of the subtle glare Sam sent over to him. He knew he was misbehaving right now, but he couldn't take it anymore. That was the very first word he had spoken other than the usual 'no comment', and he knew he was probably doing himself no good.

Those people were hideous with their ridiculous theories, intruding questions, and irrelevant topics that would do nothing but damage to his company as well as his own reputation.

"If justice exists, I wouldn't be threatened with a gun to gang myself; Ana wouldn't be shot; Elena would've been sentenced to death; the FBIs wouldn't have dropped the balls like they did; and the Seattle PD wouldn't be so incompetent at solving such a high profile case. Oh, and most of all, my parents wouldn't have been so obsessed with fame! So, you tell me, is there justice in this world? The justice system in this country is a joke to me right now!"

The press were obviously having a field day with this outburst. Sam could already sense a migraine approaching as he clutched his head in between his fingers, and massaged his temple.

"It could've been the choices you made that led to the consequences."

He knew this would come up because it was one of the many conspiracy theories circulating around the press, courtesy to Kate keeping him in the loop. He really should have her as his PR, but then, he wouldn't have inside knowledge of what the other media were trying to conjure about him. Better keep her as his ear to the ground; Sam had way more connection.

"I don't deny the fact that if I was a tad bit smarter I would've ended the sick relationship long ago and not wait until six years later. However, I wasn't the one that had been deceived for over two decades."

"So, we're here to play the blame game?"

"If you guys have gotten the stories right and got out of my face so I can live my life without being under public scrutiny, and actually conduct business relationships with other people, then we wouldn't be having this conversation. It wasn't me that made a huge deal out of this, it was you guys, the press, who can't seem to let go of this entire charade. I was the victim, again, yet other than some small businesses, bigger companies were still worried about my reputation. Why? Because I was still being portrayed as someone who brought this onto myself, and was shamed by the public for my private choices in life. What I do in my own time is my business, but since the world cares about me so much, I will stress this once again: the lifestyle that I participate in is called BDSM, which is completely sane, safe, and consensual! Just look at the contracts that weren't published by me!"

The crowd quieted, and the noise of shuffling papers and rapid friction of pen against pages or keyboard clicking was louder than ever. He knew he had said too much, and it probably did the exact opposite of what this press conference was supposed to achieve.

"I think I have said enough. My spokesperson will be answering the remainder of your questions," Christian proclaimed much to Sam's relief. At least he stopped now, which meant they still had hope at turning this in favor of the boss.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	48. Foreshadow

**_Foreshadow_**

The press conference was an utter disaster.

"It was shit! I lost it with them, so now they're going to print more lies about me. On top of that, some sick-fuck will take advantage of this downturn to spread lies about my company. I've done more destruction than construction."

Christian was now pacing the length of the hotel room near Anastasia's maternal grandparents' house in Brighton. They had departed in the afternoon right after he landed in London in a rental car that she rented for her duration in England. It was only a two hour drive. He was slightly jet lagged, but all sleepiness vanished the moment he was asked about the press conference aired only two days ago. They were going to her grandparents' place for a casual dinner before they return to spend tomorrow night alone. Her parents were hosting the night and her grandparents tomorrow night; that was almost a tradition in her family.

"Can't Sam do something to alter the story? Press reports are all about perspectives. If you want to sway your reader in one direction, use the words to get them to see your reason," she paraphrased the few knowledge tips Kate had taught her throughout their friendship.

"That entire thing had been counterproductive," he continued to pace, determined to end up on the floor below with a whole in their room. She sighed, obviously her expected job at the moment was to listen to his vent and only offer silent support. "Now that everyone seemed to be under the impression that the Grey family is a bunch of phony wannabes. Then, none of them will be willing to do business with me."

She watched him pull at his hair, scream into the pillow, and pace the length helplessly.

And, now, he had slumped down in an arm chair totally defeated.

"Maybe you should take some time off? Travel and destress," she suggested softly. It was hard not to scold him for jumping to the worst conclusion, but she had managed when she reminded herself that he had been under a lot of pressure lately and he probably didn't need her to sound unsupportive.

The news weren't all negative, in fact, several notable individuals, organizations, and companies had stood up in his defense. Even some with influence come out to express their extreme disdain to the way the press had illustrated his character and defended the alternative lifestyle. Christian was just too narrow-focused at the moment in his girlfriend's opinion.

"And, watch my company crumble to dust?" He retorted sarcastically.

"I'll be here," Anastasia assured him, confident that she would have the ability to juggle both her own and his work.

"Tiring you out while I'm out on some fucking vacation? No thanks, that's like meeting some chick at a beach while your wife's pregnant at home keeping your shit together," he spat sneeringly. His words weren't hateful to be exact, but the way he said it still made her feel like utter shit. "I'm not treating you like that."

"You do need a break, Christian," she reasoned gently.

"I also really do need you," he countered. "I wouldn't think for one second that I'd have the ability to persuade you to take days off. Look at how busy you are already."

"Christian," she wanted to point out to him that he wasn't viewing the consequences post-press conference in an objective manner; but she refrained not wanting to add fuel to the flame since he had heard this phrase from Flynn way too often. "It's not about burdening me, it's about you. You need a time away from all this mess."

"Then what about you?" His tone was getting defensive which bemused her. "You've been in all of this since you met me, and at least I got a break when I was in intensive therapy."

"I am doing fine."

"You just ignore whatever you don't want to face. You need the break more than I do."

"I wasn't the one subjected to public scrutiny under their watchful eyes."

Christian shook his head in disagreement and broke eye contact before this could escalate into an argument. It all started out with each other's best interest, yet it now appeared like they were both too stubborn to admit that they were human.

"We never got around the conversation about you working too hard," he brought it on to the table hoping she wasn't going to pick a fight with him. They were due to her grandparents' house in a few hours, and he was sleep deprived. He was hoping to get all the talks out of the way and take a power nap with her.

"What about it? I worked hard and got a promotion."

"You _slave_ yourself to your work. You work as if I don't have a job."

"I do have bills to pay."

"I've also told you that you don't need to pay them."

"I spend your money, live in your house, use your jet," she rattled off ticking off a finger with each item on the list. "What exactly am I contributing? You said you don't feel obliged to take care of me, and you want us to be a normal couple, so why can't you stick to our initial agreement? You are already responsible for the large expenditures, besides I also have to support my parents. I just spent two thousand dollars on clothes, which are your money. I am only doing my job as a doctor."

"You didn't have to work so hard that you exhaust yourself. You could be doing something you like, like researching, and balance it with your clinical duty. Won't that be more comfortable?"

"You know there's still the bills from my parents? The military pension only covers so much. Nothing is comfortable when it comes to earning money, Christian. That isn't even your case. I get home at a reasonable hour and don't have to work night shifts in the ER, that is already a privilege that not many doctors my age can have. So don't throw all that macho crap at me."

He stared at her form perched on the edge of the bed directly in front of him, their unpacked luggage still near the door, he could see the weariness in her and the exhaustion and fatigue that had never seemed to be far away. His heart ached at the sight. He could see how hard she was trying and how hard she worked, and he couldn't be prouder and happier when she got promoted; she truly deserved it, and that wasn't because of the rose-tinted glasses he wore whenever he look at her.

Instead of letting his feeling reach out to her, he stood up and sat down next to her on the bed. Unexpectedly, she leaned over, resting her head on his shoulder and his arms instinctively went around her body; encasing her.

"I'm sorry, baby," he whispered in her hair. "I didn't mean to give you the impression that I want you out of the hospital. I just want you to take care of yourself. It is after all, my problem that I fell in love with a medical professional."

She cracked a smile at his last sentence. She had thought she'd be the one to use it, given that he had been busier than her when they first started dating. Suddenly, she groaned and attempted to wriggle out of his embrace.

"I'm starting to loath the sound of a cellphone," she lamented as she dragged her feet to their bags and dug out her almost dead phone. "Hi Gail," she answered, returning to Christian's side, the latter cocked his head at the identity of the caller.

While he would love to eavesdrop, especially since Anastasia's expression turned grim and rather concerned, his phone interrupted him just when he heard the words 'Taco' and 'vet' in one sentence.

Christian frowned at the caller ID but still took the call. He discretely left the room so their voices wouldn't get mixed up. He would have to ask what happened with Taco later.

"Mia, what's up?" Suppressing the urge to tell her off, he maintained a controlled tone.

"Your press conference was all over Seattle News and National TV."

"I am aware of it. I was warned that it would be considered as the release of the year or something along the line."

"With the way you responded to the questions, of course it is the interview of the year."

"Those questions were way too intrusive, so I lost it," he defended.

"They were," she assented. "And, do you know that our parents secretly went to Elena's funeral?"

"They did?" He inquired flatly, he couldn't care less. He was informed of the event and also the attempts the three crazy subs had made to tip the local media off regarding it just to spite him only to be turned away because their content wasn't all that valuable.

"And, rumor has it that you plan to make an appearance at your supposed alma mater?"

"That's hearsay," he responded, though it was on one of his agenda for the next year to return to Harvard Business School. He literally was at the very beginning of his career, and he couldn't afford to be aloof and arrogant like he used to. He needed to socialize and put himself out there. "Don't tell me you actually believed it."

"Which is why I'm asking for confirmation."

"Well, I'm not sure. I just got to England so I haven't checked anything. Maybe I got an e-invite."

"By the way," and he knew she was going to start another topic in true Mia-style. "I don't think you know, but Elliot didn't tell you the real reason why he got drunk that night. You know, the night before Ana's birthday that led to the scandalous news articles months later."

"He had been setup. Should be enough to warn him to keep his secrets better. There was no way I was going to risk my still un-solidified reputation in the society to help him get his cards and cash back."

"That sounds selfish and cold-hearted but that's not the point." For once, he was glad that she was able to focus on the right thing. "Our parents tried to coerce him into attending Elena's funeral, in the name of saying goodbye to the past and finally laying it to rest. They even called her an old friend. The nerve of them!"

"What a bunch of delusional pricks," he snorted, he didn't even need to ask Mia to deduce that he had probably spilled his guts to her on the way over to his house, and she didn't get the chance to provide additional information that day. "Did they also call you?"

"They did, but I was more direct that Elliot in rejecting them. They called me a whole string of names."

"I'm sorry, Mia. I knew Elliot was withholding something during the sessions."

"Honestly, brother, I don't see the point of the so-called bonding sessions. Did you not feel the tension and awkwardness when the three of us hung out together that Saturday in the name of bonding and preparing for Ana's birthday?"

He sighed heavily—guess he wasn't the only one with that feeling. Maybe it was just Elliot that was pretending. The only difference was now that he could no longer pretend everything was fine, because the press had once again, unveiled the ugly truth and threw dirt on everyone's name.

They talked some more and after they hang up, he checked for new emails and messages as he made his way back to the bedroom where Anastasia had now moved to the center of the large bed sitting cross legged. She was also looking at her phone, scrolling and typing intently.

"Christian," she said without glancing up, and it made him believe that the electric current they felt whenever each other was present in the same capacity was real. "Do you have anything on Saturday morning next week? So, the week I return from London and before I head to Congo."

"No," he was always either working or spending time with Taco on that day as she worked. "Why?"

"There's a celebration hosted by Northwest, and all of the executives and the board will attend. It is a little heavy on the politics, but still good network in Seattle. Do you want to go?"

He pursed his lips, there was definitely an advantage but the cons were also painfully obvious—politics. That had always been a touchy subject, everywhere.

"I'm back in the middle of next week, so you still have time to decide, there's no RSPV required. I'm invited."

"I'll think about it, and speaking of next week, I forgot to tell you something," he peered down at the reminder on his phone. "there's a magazine cover photoshoot next Friday."

"Okay, what for?"

"We kind of took the spotlight since the beginning of this year, and a few business magazines and entertainment entities has reached out asking for cover interviews."

"What's your decision?"

"Maybe we should take it? What do you think?"

"Two social events already squashed into our tight end of year schedule," she nibbled her lip pondering the practicability. "It's plausible."

"But?"

"There's no but, it's entirely up to you," she decided after a moment of thinking.

"Maybe we should do the photoshoot."

"Okay, then we're going to both. If this is going to help get us back on our feet then why not? The sooner we're back to our previous social status without the sabotage from the media, the less of those functions we have to attend."

He nodded in agreement, letting her reasoning sink in deeper. He accepted it but that didn't mean that he liked it. The end of the year celebration sounded like too much of a challenge.

"Gail called?" He asked, still reeling in the realization that he had to make public appearances and network till the end of the year; and, here he thought he could have a peaceful recovery after everything.

Anastasia yelped and curled up against the headboard when she saw Christian throwing himself on the bed face down, completely taking up the entire mattress with his stretchy limbs. She stared at him incredulously and amusedly. That was obviously not him, but it wasn't far from the man she knew in person at the same time. Deep down, she had always thought he was a goofball, but she couldn't be a hundred percent certain so she went with pretty boy.

"I hate balls," he screamed into the comforter and pounded his fist against te pillows.

She suppressed a laughter but failed to stifle her giggles. That phrase reminded her of two completely different scenarios.

"I like yours, though," that was probably the lamest sex joke ever made but she couldn't help it. "Do you want to know what Gail said?" Steering their conversation back to the original topic as she extended a leg to rub his back from his shoulder blades.

He made a few nodding movements with his head but remained in the same posture, so she assumed he was listening.

"Gail said someone poisoned Tucks," she relayed the message in the most simplistic and direct manner; but there was more to the story. "Taylor went to walk the dog with her as always," she continued while watching him shot right up into a seating position.

Taco was precious to him, but he knew it was more precious to his girlfriend, so if something happened to the dog, Anastasia would be devastated and he couldn't bear to see her like that.

"He and Gail both saw a woman, one of the wannabe blondes, toss something to the ground just on Taco's path. He ate it, despite Gail's attempt to stop him. He seemed fine all day, but Taylor was suspicious while Gail wanted to observe. In the end, Taylor won and they took him to the vet. She was calling on their way over, and also to charge it to my bill, which is now linked to your card."

"At least he doesn't have any symptoms, yet."

"No, and I believe he'll be fine."

He watched her and listened to her tone of voice as he debated whether to suggest they fly home. He would've already called to have the jet ready if it wasn't for the fact that they kind of both needed the time away from the States.

"We all know who the culprit is, and Taylor said whichever the three it was, they were going to face up to five years of imprisonment."

"But that won't push the court to set a time for the trial."

"I think they are waiting for more evidence to be submitted. The animal cruelty offense probably isn't nearly enough and convincing."

He groaned into his hands and laid back down. They were helpless from across the ocean anyway, so he chanted to himself to remain calm like his girl.

"Now, what was your call about?" She tickled his side with her toes as she switched to hug her legs and rest her chin atop of her knees.

"Mia called to tell me that my parents went to Elena's funeral discretely and they had tried to force Elliot into going. Just the same old delusional bullshit that never changes."

"Elena's funeral? She had a funeral?" Of course that was all she was focused on. "Why wasn't I invited?"

"Yes, it was just around your birthday, I can't remember which exactly."

"You knew? And you didn't tell me?"

"I didn't know you were into this kind of gossip," he turned his head to the side to meet her gaze and smirked at her lazily. It was still sexy to her. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

"Or what, are you going to spank me?"

"Are you going to let me?" He leaned to his side and propped his head up on his elbow.

"Maybe," she shrugged noncommittally and casually picked up his phone. "You've got the interview questions, already?" She looked up and crawled toward his laying figure in response to his open-arm invitation. She held the display between them and he had his head resting on her shoulder and his legs tangled with hers; he wanted her so bad that he was seriously considering begging . He needed to use this vacation—to him at least, as she had to return to London tomorrow for the conference—to convince her to add sexual activities to their daily routine.

"I want you," he murmured, completely disregarding the set of questions they were supposed to go over; it was already the censored version from Sam.

He felt her apprehension coursing through her body so he didn't press any further by starting to beg like he had desperately wanted to as he clung onto her.

"Give me a few more days to get used to the IUD," she requested. He opened his mouth wanting to protest but she read him. "I'm on my period, and now I've got cramps that I didn't have before."

"You didn't get the copper one?"

"I'm not even going to ask how you knew there are two types, but no, I didn't. I kind of want to have less flow but still have my periods."

"I also know your mensural cycle," he showed off, effectively earning a glare. "Okay, I'll behave," he chortled. "Do you have any other discomforts?" He really just wanted her to feel better so they could test the effectiveness of the birth control. Personally, he preferred the Depo shot, but he wouldn't get anywhere by trying to dictate what method she should use; other than getting yelled at for being suffocating and controlling.

She shook her head and tapped his phone awake to check the time. They should get ready to surprise her grandparents, who hadn't seen her for more than a couple of years, in a few hours. They could get a few hours of sleep in first just to catch up on the sleep-loss.

…

"Gail said they had Taco's stomach pumped and identified the poison as the kind that kiss rodents."

"And, Taylor said a warrant has been issued for Susannah and Leila's arrest."

"What about the third girl? What's her name?" She looked away from her phone after typing a reply to Gail, and he did the same to Taylor, then the two of them dragged themselves out of bed to really start preparing to crash the pre-Thanksgiving party.

"Susannah was charged with animal cruelty, Leila with vandalizing my car, and hopefully Burt can convince the judge to decide a date."

"Yeah, yeah…" she brushed off his additional comment wanting him to listen to her question and actually answer it. "Who's the third girl? What's her name again? I bet she's also dyed her hair blonde and did something with her appearance."

"Rebecca," he supplied unwillingly.

"Right, the escort."

He halted his action in rummaging through his duffle bag for an appropriate outfit and turned around to stare at her incredulously, but she wasn't paying him any attention so he resumed his search.

_What _does_ one wear to their girlfriend's maternal grandparents' casual pre-Thanksgiving dinner?_

He turned around again with the goal of seeking her advice but his question was caught in his throat when he saw her bare backside protruding in his direction in a tiny thong. She was pulling the ankle length skirt that was currently polled at her feet up to cover her ass. He had never seen her wear that skirt before even though he had probably seen them in their closet at home. She rarely like to wear dresses in general, and unless they were going to a formal event, he could almost never convince her to wear a dress on a casual occasion. He idly wondered what she bought with Kate because she did spend two-thousand dollars, but only came home with a few bags.

"You're staring, Mr Grey," she stated without turning back. She was now adjusting the waist of the skirt, it seemed to be a little loose, so she tucked her sweater inside. It didn't look too awkward. "I can feel you burning a hole into my ass with your salacious glare."

He was distracted from her earlier comment, clearly, and now the skirt not only roused his penis but also aroused the desire to take her shopping on Black Friday; for the said of gaining the whole Black Friday shopping spree experience.

"Do I get a time frame to work with?" He blurted out, he was talking about sex but she didn't catch on.

"What?"

He gestured his very prominent erection when she finally turned around and gave her a knowing smirk.

"Oh," she returned to finished dressing. "December."

"Next week?" He beamed in faux excitement.

"No, maybe before the end of the year."

He gaped at her back, utter speechless. That rather was a hopeless empty promise than a time frame to him, it was too uncertain.

"Come on, let's go. Assuming you are dressed since you haven't been doing much since your eyes found my bare ass."

"I'm not, actually," he confessed, and this made her spun around sharply to find him still in the outfit that he was previously in. "I was going to ask you what to wear because I can't decide, then I turn around and was met with your ass."

She raised an eyebrow at his rather crass comment but let it slide when he didn't back down. She held out her hand, and commanded, "bag."

He obediently zipped his duffle bag and tossed it to her after she set her leather jacket aside.

"You packed your own bag didn't you?"

He shrugged at her question seeing that she still had her face inside the bag and was literally speaking into it.

"You have a pair khaki pants? I've never seen you in them," she held out a pair of said trousers and tossed it to her side.

_Guess that was going to part of his outfit tonight._

"You have flannel shirts? Did you, like, just bought these?" She finally peered up at him as she pulled out the items.

"There wasn't any occasion for me to wear those," he explained.

"Really," she hummed.

"I would let you manage my wardrobe but I'm sure you don't want to dress me everyday."

"No, I don't. Still, you have clothes that you don't even wear."

"Because they aren't the ones that I bought myself."

"So you don't like them?"

"Well, not that…"

"No occasion. Christian, you have to start coming up with more nuanced excuses."

"Mia bought me that flannel shirt and Elliot got me that khaki pants because he was getting himself a pair."

"How nice of your siblings," she complimented making him roll his eyes. "Did you bring another pair of shoes?"

"Just my trainers," he nodded to the bag in her lap. She moved the bag slightly to check the pair that was on his feet. They would suffice. Very little people focus on footwear anyway.

"I can't believe that you actually didn't bring a black sweater," she was ready to dump every content in his bag, sans toiletry bag, onto the bed when he confirmed it. "I bought you a black one in London earlier, it's in my suitcase."

"You bought me clothes?" He trudged over to said luggage and zipped it open. "Did you bring everything with you?"

"No, the suitcase is empty but I thought I'd bring it with me since I assumed that you'd be flying back soon, and just in case I forgot. Besides, if you didn't like it I would've still have the chance to return it."

"This one?" He held up a pure black wool sweater, it was soft and comfortable, and still with the label dangling at the collar. She nodded. "It's not bad."

"Not bad?" She screeched. "This thing isn't cheap, gentleman!"

"Well, you do have my card."

"I used my own!"

He still shrugged. They weren't so strict with wealth possession now in comparison to when they first got back together.

"You want me to wear the flannel shirt beneath this?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "What's wrong with that?"

"I've never done that before."

She shrugged, unfazed.

He breathed out heavily, trudging back to the bed to pick up the clothes that she had picked out for him. It wasn't at all his style but probably every other normal men's. His casual was more like a suit without a tie, a dress shirt without all the buttons buttoned up and the sleeves rolled up.

She sat on the bed with her jacket and purse in hand, and watched him get changed.

…

"We're walking over," she told them as soon as they stepped out into the darkness of Brighton. He peeked down and saw that she was wearing flats, which made him wonder if she'd actually get cold. However, the more pressing issue was that he was in his dress shoes.

_How convenient for her._

"When are you flying back?" She asked as they walked side by side down into the quiet neighborhood to their destination.

"With you," _hopefully_, he quipped simplistically.

"That's going to be a week later," she exclaimed, staring at him as she walked sideways.

"I know, and I can network here while you're at your conference or plan how we're going to spend tomorrow night. It's rare to see Ros so willingly let me out of Seattle, especially when we're negotiating a deal with a potential sponsor."

"So, you can drive us back tomorrow, right?"

"Is that why you asked for my schedule?" He narrowed his eyes at her playfully. "Why, are you going to get drunk and sleep until the afternoon?"

"I plan on getting drunk, but not too much to have a hangover. However, we need to leave early tomorrow for my conference."

"Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, are you sure you need to work?"

"For the morning, yes. I have the day off on Friday. We could even come back for Thanksgiving and stay at my grandparents' house if you want. My cousin is leaving tomorrow, so the guest room will be free, which is also part of the reason why we're having this dinner tonight."

"Okay, I'll drive you back tomorrow morning. Then, I'm taking you shopping on Black Friday."

"Are you jet-lagged?" She suddenly remembered that he just arrived today and still needed to adjust to the time zone.

"Believe me, I'm not living in any time zone for the past week."

"Oh," her shoulders slumped in sympathy. "I'll drive then, do you want to drink tonight?"

"I can drive. It's only a two-hour drive, it's okay. Besides, I can sleep once we're there. You still have the hotel room right?" She nodded. "Then I can nap tomorrow."

She didn't argue anymore, there was no use in insisting on who to drive fifty miles. She hadn't had the best sleep either but at least they weren't all plagued with nightmares like his nights; she just didn't sleep for too long or too well.

"Can I ask you something, Christian?" She stopped abruptly and asked suddenly, nearly making him walk over her. He thought they were close to her grandparents' house, since she said it was supposed to be really close.

"Yeah," he nodded dumbfounded, of course she could ask him anything. He would never deliberately hide anything from her.

"How did you know there were three women stalking me? I showed you hundreds of different faces."

"I knew because no matter how much you change your appearance, there are still small features that cannot be concealed completely," he admitted sheepishly. She didn't want to remind her that he once knew their bodies intimately like he knew hers.

From the change in demeanor, he knew that she was still reminded of it. He just hoped that she could make peace with it. He had been very patient with her and she had even confessed that she was battling with herself internally whenever he brought up or hinted about sex. He wanted her to see a therapist, and she had voiced that she'd consider it, but as it appeared, she never seemed to have the time or the energy.

_That, perhaps was the tragedy of dating a doctor._

She slowly turned around and resumed walking, probably submerged in her own conflicting thoughts.

"We're here," she announced, suddenly forgetting all the discussions that they had on their way over.

His mind was still plagued with their dialogues and discoveries from Seattle. He didn't believe for once that an arrest warrant could stop the three crazy women from sabotaging his life like Elena did. Only this time, they weren't so successful with the press, and he's got nothing left to lose if he just guarded his empire and girlfriend.

_Though, what was their endgame?_

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	49. End Of Year

**_End of Year_**

DECEMBER 2016

**From: Christian Grey**

**Subject: Fw: Compulsory Message from the Health Department**

This is an email marked with high importance.

_Forwarded content below:_

There is an outbreak of a very contagious viral disease. It is commonly known as a type of flu. It is contagious through air and spit.

Major symptoms may include but not limited to: cold, fever, fatigue, feeling weak.

It has affected more children and elderlies, and of the 6 people that has already died, 2 of them are kids and the rest are Seniors. It is believed to be stemmed from the coast line on both sides.

To prevent the spread of the disease:

Wash your hands thoroughly and constantly

Wear masks whenever you and your family are going out

Avoid dense population

Always keep warm and drink water

Do not use your hands to rub your nose and eyes

Keep your children and elderlies from going out as much as possible

It is currently not mandatory to wear masks inside of the workplace, however it is very important to wash your hands with soap, especially when you return from outside or before you eat. It is highly recommended that you remain indoors as much as possible and avoid travelling as well as crowded areas.

Anastasia Steele  
Head of Anesthesiology Department at the Northwest Medial Center

_End of forwarding content._

Christian T. Grey  
CEO of Grey Enterprise Holdings

…

"I didn't know we have a health department," Christian joked. His phone was on the vanity with FaceTime connected to Anastasia's. He had just forwarded the email she sent him earlier to everyone in the company.

"You have now," she bit back spitefully. He had been trying to get on her last nerve lately. "I'm serious, you need to schedule that meeting to a teleconference. There is no way you are going anywhere, even it's just Portland."

"No one has heard of this."

"It's not in the news yet, but it's going to be very soon," she stressed. She was laying spread eagle on her bed in the hotel room in Brazzaville, Congo, where she and Adam and a few others were sent to check in with their medical team sent over a few years ago. It was the trip that was the product of shitty budget planning by the hospital organization. "There is a reason that I know these things first, because I work in a hospital."

"Okay," he conceded, clearing having caught on her tone. "I'm already getting to work hours later than I usually do, which is exactly obeying your orders."

"Good! You should, because I'm kicking you out of the house if you dare catch that flu due to your lack of self-awareness."

"You really sound more like my wife than my girlfriend," he jested, peeking at the phone as he adjusted his tie. She was also half-paying attention to the video, but at least that wouldn't make her pay extra phone bills.

He heard her scoff but he still grinned at the idea nonetheless.

"Wear a mask," she reminded as he picked up the phone to walk out of the closet.

"See?" He picked up a mask and held it in front of the phone for her to see.

"Good boy," she smirked making him narrow his eyes at her. "You have to take this seriously, Christian. Wait until you got caught with the flu and we'll see how sassy you're going to be."

"I am taking it very seriously. I forwarded your email, got a mask, and got to work late. All of those are your requests. Don't tell me you're going to make me reinforce the mask at work."

"We'll see. You don't have to for now, since not many of them are aware of it. But, you haven't seen how serious it has been in the hospital. The nurses in those ICUs looked like they were battling Ebola."

"Isn't that in Congo?"

"That started in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which isn't where I am."

He shuddered, she was still in Africa, which still scared him to death.

"Granted, the condition isn't much better here."

He sat down at the breakfast bar and tucked into his omelet that Gail placed before him. She and Taylor had been occupying the guest room lately since Anastasia was rarely home lately.

"Take Tucks to the dog park on the weekend if you can?"

"I will. I have been taking him to the dog park in the morning, too, but there's no one."

"Duh, you run in the middle of the night."

"Nah, just very early in the morning."

"Same difference. Tucks needs to socialize. I think he's doing well with other dogs, though there is one guy who's got a golden retriever that likes to get close to Tucks."

"Is he the one with the dog that constantly gets into fights with Tucks?"

"Yes, that golden retriever is brutal, man. I mean it. On top of that, that owner doesn't seem to get the hint that I'm not interested in him no matter how he tries to get close to our dog."

"He's trying to groom you?"

"I think so," she was less confident now. "We rarely show up at the dog park together because whenever we take him out, we go for a long stroll. He probably thinks I'm the dog walker or something."

"Or maybe I'm the dog walker for you?"

"You look too prestigious to be a dog walker, pretty boy. I look more down to earth. Then again, did that guy approach Tucks when you take him out?"

"Not really. He still tries to pet Tucks though."

"Tucks won't let anyone pet him. He hates it when strangers touch him for some reason. He also hates it when I touch other dogs."

"He's jealous."

"I wonder where he gets that from."

"He can't possibly know that I'm the jealous type. He hasn't seen me in action," he defended lightly making her laugh.

Their conversation faded into a comfortable silence as they both focused on doing their own thing with the FaceTime still connected, and they could hear noises in each other's background.

"Anything updates?" She asked, rubbing her face tiredly after a few more beats of silence.

She had flew there the first Monday of December, and was due back a week later. They barely had a few days together as he returned to Seattle before her to ensure that they were on top of the situation this time, and also to check on Taco.

Leila and Susannah were both arrested, and Rebecca reportedly went to bail them out, notwithstanding the eligibility to actually do so for committing a felony. At least they were now under supervision, and they knew the address of their apartment.

"Taylor is advocating to obtain a search warrant since none of them are willing to talk."

"So, court date?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. He had a feeling that no one's heart was actually on work since it was nearing the end of the year, and all they were really waiting for was to go on holiday and spend time with family.

"This is such a shitty time to sue someone."

"It's a shitty time to sue anyone anytime, really."

"End of the year is usually the busiest for everyone, and many of them really don't have their mind on their work anymore."

"Yeah…" he echoed as he chewed on the last bit of his omelet. "I'm heading off to work now," he stood up and thanked Gail.

"Okay, I'll let you go, but wash your hands and wear a mask, Christian. I mean it!"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Also, don't chew your nails these days," she stressed.

"Yes, mom."

"Don't mom me."

"Okay, wife."

Now it was Anastasia's turn to roll her eyes. They had never broached the topic of marriage in a serious manner, it was always mentioned and brushed away or joked about, like now.

"I love you," she bid.

"I love you, too, bye," he echoed and hung up the video call completely unaware of the gaping from his personal staff. "What?" He asked the couple who were staring at him immobilized.

"She said it," Gail couldn't help contain her glee while Taylor simply cleared his throat and petted Taco on the head.

"She said what?" Christian frowned, he felt so disconnected from them at the moment. Recalling the hour-long conversation he had with his girlfriend since he woke up this morning, he didn't find anything unusual.

"She finally said it!" Gail bounced on her spot, attracting Taco's attention and he bounded over equally excited, only for different reasons.

Christian stared at her for a moment longer before finally registering what she was so delighted over. The smile that slowly turned his frown upside down also made Taylor release a breath.

"She said it," he assented in an almost dreamy tone. "Yes!" He leapt up from his spot and charged at Taco, momentarily stunning the dog, then he made a run. "Tucks, she said it!"

Taco gave no indication that he had heard anything but was enjoying being chased by Christian.

He arrived the office receiving strange looks from everyone, though not many voiced their reasons for shooting him the looks. Ros, as always, was the first one.

"What's with the email this morning? You look hideous in that mask by the way."

"Doctor's order. Ana said the flu is spreading nationwide now."

"What flu?"

"A flu believed to have stemmed from the coastlines are now spreading along the line and to inner states. There are already several people diagnosed with it in Seattle and isolated."

"So, Ana is our health department now?"

"She has the potential," he shrugged still with that mask on. "I would've made it more GEH original and have Andrea send it out later, but Ana made me do it the moment I got it."

"She's not even in the States and you're still so compliant? Man, you are seriously whipped," Ros laughed, slapping her hand over his shoulder as they entered the conference room for the executive meeting that Ros had called.

Christian shrugged. He didn't see it like that. He now truly thought that men who were afraid of their wives were the ones that truly loved them, and wouldn't dare to disappoint them. He was just the kind. He wouldn't want to disappoint Anastasia by going against her reasonable wishes.

"She'll be back soon," he said with no reason. "She said the disease hasn't been made public yet but it will very soon, because there are more people admitted to the hospital with each passing day and very little people are actually aware of it."

"Why isn't it reported sooner?"

"She said it's rather new. It just spreads really fast. So, probably only happened recently."

"Are you going to wear this mask in the meeting, too?" Ros stared at him in utter disbelieve. For one, she knew that she'd never wear this hideous mask anywhere even if Gwen insisted it, unless someone was sick around her. She was also under the impression that Grey took shit from no one, yet he was now looking ridiculous all because his girlfriend from across the globe told him to.

"We'll see. I just might," he smirked but she couldn't see it, still, she knew that he said this just to spite her in some way.

…

Anastasia was due back very late Sunday evening, but Christian was going to wait up. He was finally talked out of going to the airport to pick her up since the hospital had a bus for the team, so he had decided to wait for her at home with some refreshments and Taco.

Her flight back was extremely tiresome, with three stops on the way and spending over thirty hours on the road. He had a feeling that if he wasn't in a good mood they would be getting into fights the moment they saw each other. So, he knew that he had to behave so he wouldn't get on her last nerve.

It was already past midnight, and the door had yet to be opened. Taco had long fell asleep by his feet, snoring his ass off like he was in a recording studio with soundproofed walls. Christian was tempted to wake up his pet from his seemingly peaceful sleep when he twitched himself awake. He watched the dog stretch his four legs with his eyes closed, turned onto his back so that his stomach was in the air and taking up Christian's entire two feet, then heaved out a sigh; all with his eyes closed.

He chortled lightly at that lazy behavior, and shook his head, he knew Taco would be the first at the door when Anastasia arrived. He picked up his phone and clicked into the album that contained all the pictures of them at all the end of year celebrations that they attended, from the hospital performance where he had recorded her leading a hip hop dance with a few other nurses from the operation room, to the charity events that his parents used to attend due to his mother's position on the board. It had been a hectic few days, and he couldn't recall eating a single meal at home with her since she returned from London.

Between the time she met him back in Seattle and the Monday she departed for Brazzaville, they only had three whole days together—Friday and the weekend—which were all filled with social engagements.

On the one hand, he was glad that he could have a reason to turn down the other demanding functions when she wasn't in town; on the other hand, he missed her terribly during the times when she was away. It wasn't helping that they were separated for the majority of the last two months of the year.

Smiling wistfully at the pictures, he recollected some of the bittersweet memories. The celebration from Northwest was seriously a social networking experience for him. He was invited to be seated among the hospital authorities and some other politicians, and instead of allowing him to enjoy the one performance where his girl very reluctantly agreed to partake in, he was forced into dialogue after dialogue of business.

He placed down his phone and picked up the rough draft of their cover interview. It was an experience that he'd probably never forget. That was his very first interview where he delved into his personal life.

_"Your press conference has made a profound impact in the media, and stirred up various reactions from the public. You are a man of few words in public, so what made you give that impromptu speech about justice being overrated?"_

_"I was in a dire situation starting at the beginning of this year, as everyone is aware. I am constantly under huge pressure and stress. The entire thing made me question my entire belief system of my entire life, and doubt everyone around me. The press conference happened at a time when I thought everything would return to normal but didn't due to reasons beyond my control. I felt let down… so, as the more intrusive and rather inappropriate questions continued to fire in my direction, all those pent up frustration sort of just exploded."_

_"Anastasia was the only woman who has been romantically linked to you, publicly known. She was asked what her opinion on the situation had been early on in the stage, and she said that she'd support you in any way she could. You also said that you weren't together at the press conference in January. Speculations are now rising that there's more to your relationship."_

_"I'm not sure what you are implying by 'more', but it is universal fact that I am extremely private. Ana and I did break up four years ago on amiable terms. We remained friends. We have a bond that is really special, and deep, and I think that is what got us through. We were barely in contact during the four years apart. I didn't tell her that she needs to help me, but she just stood up for me."_

_"Ana, you fought an uphill battle to save Christian. You put your life on hold for him and your decision has hindered everything in your life, including how you were viewed by the public. Why were you so determined to drop everything to run to his aid?"_

_"All personal sentiments aside, I did this as a way to show him that he wasn't alone because he did the same to me when we first met."_

_"Can you elaborate a little on it?"_

_"Christian and I are both very private regarding our personal lives, and despite everything that we've been put through, we've never talked about our relationship to the public. In spite of speculations that our relationship might be more complicated than a traditional one, it is actually simply a relationship formed because we are in love with each other. It wasn't exactly love at first sight, and we did forge a rather complicated relationship back then, but we soon simplified everything, and just settled as a couple. Without divulging any details, he helped me to stand back on my own feet when we first met, so I wanted to help him do the same and feel cared for. In my opinion, I didn't think that I've gone out of my way to accomplish such tasks because I believe that I was capable of helping him."_

_"It appears to us that you were the only person who stood by his side, along with his personal staff and employees, and we—the public—are silently wondering the role his family had played. Christian, you have once spoken highly of your parents but you've never given credits to the family friend, Elena Lincoln, who claims to have been equally supportive. Why is that?"_

_"I'm not sure how much of the media the general public believes, but Elena wasn't correct in a lot of aspects. While I am not connected to Kaetlyn, the reporter who has released all of the footage of my childhood and adulthood to justify my name to the public, I will say that what she has published are all facts. So, it is pretty self-explanatory as to why I made no acknowledgement of Elena. It is already very sad that I need to reveal every sordid details of my life to justify myself to the public, since it is my life and nobody else's business. But, it is even pitier that I actually have to rely on someone that is completely unrelated to me in anyway shape or form, namely my girlfriend, to save my life because my parents failed to do so."_

_"So, it is safe to conclude that the criminal mastermind—the culprit—behind all this scandal is Elena Lincoln?"_

_"Yes. My parents are also her victims in this sense."_

_"Elena's funeral happened in mid-September, just a couple of months ago, and attenders have reported sighting of your parents. Were you aware of the event? If so, why are your parents present if what Kaetlyn has reported was true? And, why didn't you go? As the saying goes, leaving the past in the past just so you can move on to your future."_

_"I am aware of the event taking place, but that time is also around my girlfriend's birthday, so I have to get my priorities straight. And, of course, my girlfriend is way more important than seeing an enemy being laid to rest. As for my parents, I honestly do not know why they did what they did."_

Taco's startled bark made him leapt out of his seat, nearly having the manuscript thrown over the couch. He followed the dog as he trotted to the door where they could hear the jiggling sound coming from the fumbling of a chain of keys.

And, with the increased wiggling of Taco's tail as well as the tilting of his adorable humongous head, Christian knew for sure who was on the other side of the door.

He was very tempted to just snatch it open but he didn't want to startle her. So, he waited patiently for the door to be pushed open followed by the warm welcoming committee consisting of Taco, and Taco only.

"Tucks! Hey, baby!" Once the door was opened, she quickly dragged her luggages into the apartment and locked the door behind her. The moment she turned around, the pooch attacked. "I need to go change first okay, honey?" She gently removed his paws from her body and blew him a kiss through her medical mask.

"I took him to the dog park today," he told her. "But there were very few people."

"The flu broke out, and it made the news."

"I read," he followed her into the bedroom and leaned against the doorway. "A few of my employees called in sick because their kid got sick right after your email. Though, it is thanks to your email that way less people in my company got affected than many others."

"You've got a health department now, Grey."

"I do," he chortled awkwardly, matching her wry grin.

"Don't take him to the dog park anymore. Just take him out on walks nearby, and let him relieve himself. That's it, he can't play outdoors now."

"I thought the news are exaggerating a little."

"No, they're not. The disease broke out in West Yellowstone and medical professionals from the west coast are already called for backup. Adam and I are lucky that we're not needed, because our colleagues probably won't be back for Christmas and the New Year."

"That really sucks," he echoed her sympathies toward the team assembled from all the hospitals to Montana.

"When I sent you that email, Montana was already falling and all its bordering states are affected as people all prepared to head home for the end of the year. Idaho state is ready to enter emergency status even before it broke out this violently. So, I was going to suggest that you think about shutting down the building for the time being and have everyone work at home, to stop people gathering. I forbad you from going to Portland or anywhere for business because of the exact reason why I wanted you to consider working at home."

"Is it had enough that I have to risk productivity by letting everyone go home?"

"Yes, you'll just have to trust them to stay online all the time. Washington State should be fine given that it is already prepared to isolate the entire state. Central America is more worrying at the moment."

"Okay, I will consider it and consult the executive team," he was still hung up on the fact that he still didn't receive a proper greeting, and she had finished changing. He wouldn't consult with anyone regarding the decision, but he would still like to know the feasibility of bringing work home.

He followed her out to the kitchen and tidied up the coffee table that he was at earlier on his way. The manuscript caught her attention and she picked it up, scanned at it, and grinned. She was equally fond of the experience, not precisely the memory.

They had been absolutely professional and diplomatic that day. Too much that they even felt cringed.

"You've changed after you got home, right?" She queried the same time she opened her suitcase and laid it out onto the kitchen floor just so she could take stuff out. He couldn't for the life of him understand why in the world would she feel the need to clear out her suitcase in the middle of the night after a thirty hour plus travel.

"I did. I wouldn't dare not following your instructions, baby."

"Good," she tossed the neatly folded clothes onto the kitchen counter and the suitcase was almost empty other than a few small boxes scattered around. Then, she leapt up to her feet and threw herself at him.

He stumbled backward and out of the kitchen, he could feel the air getting knocked out of his lungs but the joyous giggles coming from the side of his head distracted him from the discomfort.

"I missed you, Christian," she squeezed him tighter with her four limbs that were wrapped around him, nearly strangling him as she squealed in his ear in a small voice.

"I missed you, too, baby," he returned the tight embrace equally fiercely. There he thought she wasn't happy to see him, in the end, she just wanted to get the serious business out of the way first. "You need to go on less trips."

"I do," she nodded furiously against his shoulder. "We've been apart for so long."

He sat down on the couch and brought her into his lap. When their eyes met, there was only love, adoration, affection, and longing in them. She cupped his face and he mirrored her move, and they both inched closer, until their lips touched.

That was when they let out a content sigh in unison as their eyes closed to savor this sensation of homecoming.

"I love you," she declared against his lips. He beamed at her and resumed their kiss, only more passionate this time.

"And, I love you," he parroted, still with a beaming smile.

She straightened her legs so they were intertwined with his, and she shuffled up the length of his body so their fronts were touching and her face leveled with his.

"Are you hungry?" He whispered quietly to her, and he felt the slight shake of her head on his shoulder. She was already on the verge of entering a very deep and peaceful sleep, and he wasn't planning on interrupting it. "Let's just go to bed," he decided, sitting up slowly, carrying her with him as he stood from the sofa and head toward their room.

Taco trotted out of the guest room at the commotion from the living room just in time to catch the lights being flicked off and his owners making their way to their room. At that sight, he seemed satisfied to return to his collection for some shut-eye. His bed long abandoned in the living room, untouched. He returned to the corner in the guest room where all of his toys and his many spoils of war. It was now snuggled around him forming a tight circle of warmth.

…

"Where have you been?"

"Out on a run with Tucks."

Anastasia shot her eyes open and glared at the back of his head angrily.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you have to stay indoor!"

"There's no one out there."

"It doesn't fucking matter! Christian, the flu is serious despite what has been reported in the news. Go run on the treadmill."

He scowled at her. He knew firsthand that he had to take his own wellbeing and health seriously, after all, he was the one who kept chastising her for not taking her security and safety seriously. He was the one that would urge her to eat when she didn't have an appetite. It was ironic how he had always been the one to reprimand her but it was the other way around now.

Obviously, they both still had issues.

It had been six months since he came out of intensive therapy. Career wise, he should be well into the millions, yet he was still tittering at the edge of hitting a hundred million. Personally, he should have already moved past the fiasco and moved on with life, yet nothing went according to plan.

Not with his work and not in his personal life.

It was just beyond frustrating, and it was nearly Christmas.

Before he knew it, everyone would be off to celebrate the holiday seasons with families and friends while he mulled over his own miserable life that he couldn't seem to pick up. Something was lurking in the shadow to certify that he couldn't live his life normally.

He didn't want to act so whiny and clingy, but he really felt like he was lacking the support from the one person that meant more to him than anything.

Yet again, she was at work.

_Work_.

He was starting to loath that word.

She had been back for a couple of days now, but other than the first night which was blissful and sweet, they spent very little time bonding. Given the severity of the flu, he gave into Anastasia's pestering suggestion that he move his work home just to prevent more people from getting affected.

Taco strolled around the small apartment gloomily, seemingly have felt the atmosphere in the room growing heavier with each passing day.

In addition to all the pent up frustration, his gut intuition was telling him that they wouldn't be having a peaceful holiday.

_2016 is cursed._

…

Christmas was just days away, but he felt nothing Christmassy. GEH had began the holiday a few days early this year due to the flu that was now all the news stations report. Anastasia still had to work until the day before Christmas Eve.

He wanted to talk everything out with her before the holiday seasons but their time was either spent at some charity gala, or her working late.

"Christian, you voiced your concern regarding the effectiveness of the series of therapy sessions with your siblings."

Flynn snapped him out of his musing. Anastasia was currently at work and he was on the phone with his therapist trying to get to the bottom of this impending stress that he felt like would blow up in his face sooner or later.

"Yes, I have. Elliot is wrecking my life when I am trying to make progress. Mia isn't really supportive of this idea."

"Have you voiced your concern with anyone else?"

"Heck no, who would I turn to?"

"Who do you normally turn to?"

"Ana?"

"And?"

"She's not home. She hasn't been lately. With the flu and the end of the year approaching, she has been even busier than me."

"Have you tried forcing her to talk to you?"

"We do talk. Just not about anything heavy. We still cook together on Sundays when she's home."

"Communication is important, Christian. When you came to me about Ana's nightmares, I told you that I would recommend someone for her but only if she's willing. If she's not, there is nothing you can do other than to lend an ear."

"I do, but she doesn't like to talk about it. I didn't pester her too much because she's been draining herself lately and I just want to be supportive. You told me that I have to weigh my options and recognize my priorities, and right now, I don't believe that my priorities should be to construct a close rapport with my siblings when they are less than willing. I should just probably focus on my life and my family, which only consists of Anastasia."

"So, you are just going to give up on your siblings because they keep letting you down?"

"It's the same with Isaac. I am incapable of helping him just like I am not in the stage to be the one to reach out to my siblings and take the initiative to bond with them, when all they've done is watch as my life blows up."

"Have you pondered on the fact that maybe they don't know how? You have been difficult growing up and perhaps they haven't found the correct method to get along with you?"

"And, that's my problem?"

Flynn nodded solemnly, and Christian puffed aloud, throwing his arms up in frustration as if there was nothing that could be said to pounce into this dense British mind sitting next to him.

"Ana got along with me just fine."

"She is your lover, Christian. You are willing to spend time with her to get to know her. Your siblings are a different case. You have the choice to cut Ana off but you don't have it with your family."

"That's just bullshit!"

"What reasons do you have to cut your family off, then? You've done so to your parents with rightful reasons that you can justify to sooth your conscience, but what of your siblings? Because they're unsupportive and make mistakes?"

Christian huffed.

"You are placing the blame of the media's fuck-up on your siblings."

"And, you're saying that they're innocent?"

"Did they tip the press?"

"No."

Flynn then stared at him expectantly.

"You just don't want to work on the more gritty problems. You think sorting out the issues with Ana is easier, so you opt to ignore the potential ones that could fest and turn your relationship with your siblings even uglier. How's that different from Ana's coping mechanism of scraping it under the rug?"

He continued to identify the current issues with Flynn, and the more he talked, the more confused he felt and the more he believed that the method Anastasia chose to just brush away the problems rather than taking the time to sort through them had hindered their progress in moving forward.

But, she was blaming it on her hectic schedule.

…

The decorations were up in the apartment on Thursday night, and Friday was her last day. Anastasia would finally be relieved from her duties. Her last day consisted of attending meetings and an auction, which resulted her coming home with a wad of cash in her hands, and as always, she gave half to Christian.

"I was thinking," she nestled in his arms as they laid on the couch that night, Taco on the rug before them in the living room, and they all stared at the small Christmas tree at the corner. The fireplace alit with a tiny fire that barely conducted any heat, just contributing to the cozy atmosphere.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we should move back to Escala."

That effectively broke their peaceful night and he tensed up slightly.

"What made you- why?"

"Living here bothers me."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I can't quite put a finger on that feeling but there's just something that's been bothering me for a while. I don't know what exactly it is. I just have this feeling that if we force ourselves into the environment that we were in before everything blew up in our faces, perhaps the questionable feeling would stop?"

"We can do it after the New Year. If you really do want to move back to Escala," he compromised and he knew some would call this spoiling her by giving into her commands every time she voiced it. He was the one that was scarred from the memory in that penthouse.

He was putty in her hands, and he would proudly admit it when it didn't compromise her safety and health; he'd rarely object her.

"I want to get it sorted before the next year. Maybe we can have an independent fresh start for 2017. I don't know what is the root of the problem."

…

"Carrick, you have been trying to reach me. I apologize for the inconvenience. It has been a pretty chaotic time, you know, to tie the loose ends for the end of the year."

"I understand, and I hate to trouble you with anything but is there a way that you can speed up the adoption process?"

"How fast?"

"Maybe before the New Year?"

Silence followed but it was a mute confirmation.

"Now, we're even, Carrick."

"We are. Thank you and Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas," the man hung up the phone and blew out a frustrated breath. "What a selfish prick."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	50. Truly A Coincidence

**_Truly a Coincidence_**

CHRISTMAS EVE 2016

Two days ago, Anastasia brought up Escala and the idea of moving back there, and Christian had been thinking about it ever since. Flynn had went on break, and he was determined to use this chance to communicate openly with his girlfriend. If he couldn't resolve the issues with his family, then he better work out his small family.

So, after a lazy brunch, they found themselves in the lobby of the Escala building with Taco on a leash by their side as they waited for the elevator. The doorman merely nodded at the giant pooch that technically wasn't allowed by management.

"Why are we here?" Anastasia repeated her question aloud, and her brain instantly felt at ease.

The three of them piled into the elevator and turned around to face the door just as it slid close. Taco stood in the middle of it as always. It almost felt like the very first time they were in this very elevator over four years ago.

"You said you wanted to come back," he stated simplistically.

"I sure did…" she said slowly still wondering why he would act on it. "I thought you would object," she continued awkwardly as if it truly was their very first encounter and her very first visit to his house.

He twisted his head to observe the side of her face; she refused to meet his gaze.

"I… did."

The hesitation in his voice now made her turn her head.

"You said that something was bothering you, and didn't want it to be carried to the next year, so I thought might as well get this over with."

"I did some thinking," she declared and he was going to make some witty comebacks when she spoke again. They needed to be serious now and stop getting distracted all the time because life wasn't always funny. "You've been busy working with Flynn to get over what had happened, and I have been busy trying to sweep everything under the rug and use work to cover it up. It worked for the both of us, but we've never done anything together to face those demons. Granted, I didn't want to think of the past incidents as something traumatic, I just wanted it to be over."

He wanted to tell her that she didn't have to act so strong and bottle everything up, because she would break herself eventually, and that was the last thing he wanted to witness. He just wanted her to let everything go in the most suitable way—a way that would ensure that she wouldn't be effected for the rest of her life.

"You want to see Flynn together?"

"That could be a solution."

"What do you have in mind then?"

"Maybe we could start with moving back? I'm lost; I don't have work to distract me."

That was the reason why he wanted her to seek professional help, because talking to someone really helped. Even if he didn't think he had anything to say and didn't want to admit that he was traumatic, the professional would be doing the talking and it would then trigger him to talk. He knew that because he had seen more than his fair share of therapists in his life.

"Perhaps it's time you seriously consider talking to someone? Maybe just one session?"

She shrugged, again. He hated that reaction from her, but he also didn't want to be too firm to make her felt like she was coerced into psychotherapy.

"What's there to talk about?"

He barely caught that question as the elevator announced their arrival and opened the door to the foyer. He thought she had dropped that topic already and wasn't going to talk about it anymore until he found some way to trigger it and bring it up again.

"Anything. It might help with the stress."

"I can always talk to you," she retorted.

"You can," and his heart swelled so much at that seemingly casual statement, and for a moment, he couldn't even come up with a sound argument.

"So, why do I have to talk to a professional to be exact?"

"Just… think about it," he settled with as they made their way deeper into the penthouse and Taco went exploring the second he was off the leash.

"I will, and I am."

"Okay, then that's all I ask for now."

Taco's barks were bringing back all kinds of memories for Anastasia. Taylor would've been equally traumatic had he accompanied the two of them and not given the days off for the holidays. Her gut instinct had told her exactly where Taco's location was, and she froze in her spot instantly.

Christian surfaced from the kitchen to catch her pale white face as if she had seen ghosts. He was just about to show her the rotten food in the fridge when she sauntered out of the kitchen soundlessly. So, he chased out just in time to observe her ashen face.

"The playroom," she whispered eerily quiet and her voice shook. Everything that she had swept under the rug had came flooding back.

He reached out to steady her as she took deep and calming breaths. She didn't even know that she was staggering because all she knew was that Taco hadn't stopped barking, and she had to move upstairs, because something was terribly wrong.

Her heart was thumping loudly and erratically in her ribcage but she still pushed him aside and headed upstairs despite his protests that fell deaf on her ears.

…

The door was thrown open, and Rebecca jumped accompanied by a yelp. Her hand flew to her chest to calm her racing heartbeat once she recognized that it was Susannah. One of her two roommates; the three of them had a joint account created by Elena where they had money deposited inside. She was about to resume her work at hand when she noticed something wasn't right.

"Did you go get another surgery?"

"No," Susannah brushed off Rebecca's accusing tone just like she did with the sweat beads on her forehead. "We don't have the budget for that anymore, remember?"

"That's why I asked. Where's Leila then? You two went out together."

Susannah shot her a look that said 'it was none of your goddamn business' and walked into the bathroom to freshen up. She was hoping that her appearance wouldn't give away what she had really been doing, but when she inspected herself in the mirror, she gasped.

"You said you went fucking didn't you?" Rebecca appeared at the doorway smirking at her sinisterly while her long fingernails tapped the wooden frame rhythmically. "How much did you earn?" She taunted with her chin held high knowing full well that Susannah hadn't been escorting like she said she did; she didn't even touch a man.

Susannah continued to remove her neat and perfectly tidied makeup that she thought was smeared by the sweat in silence.

"Who would've believed that there's a gala so early in the day. The ones that we are invited to always begin late in the afternoon or at night," Rebecca scoffed, calling her out. "You went through with that stupid plan of Leila's didn't you?"

"I saw them walking into the place when I left," Susannah told her defiantly.

"That's just pure coincident and luck. You don't know that they're going back to the penthouse today. Leila could've been dead and eroded and no one would know."

"Then that means Leila is connected to our Master on a deeper level than we are. At least more telepathic than we are."

"You're delusional, get some help," Rebecca rolled her eyes and left the bathroom.

"What are you up to then? You act like you've got an endgame planned out, guaranteed to succeed with the way you laughed at mine and Leila's plan, calling it lame. What, did you have it all figured out?" Susannah huffed, making her way to her friend after roughly splashing a few palm-full of water on her face, rinsing the residue of the makeup remover.

"I have sources, and you don't."

"Who, Rodriguez?" Susannah dismissed the smugness from Rebecca. "That queer doesn't know anything other than making his daddy look good and worship at his feet while spending his money without a blink of an eye."

"At least he talks. Your clients never talk business with you, much less about Master and his side chick. They're all too tight-lipped. Who's problem is that when you appear to be so dense-skulled and dumb, like a true blonde?"

"Grey still has the influence that he used to have, even after everything Mistress has put him through," Susannah sighed dreamily, letting out an airy smile.

"That's because that hooker chick of his tossed away her dignity and asked the Rodriguez for money," Rebecca corrected exasperatedly at the girl who appeared to still be on cloud nine. "We all know that Elena is nothing but a phony cunt with a few dollars to spare, so there's no use in dreaming about him. We either cripple him or we stir up shit in his life to make sure that he never forgets us; remembers the women that he had threw away after he had his fun with our hearts."

"You're right!" Susannah was snapped out of her haze and agreed indignantly.

"Rodriguez Senior is getting weaker—his days are numbered—and it's time we remind his limp-dick son that a certain _Dr Steele_ would be the one that failed to save his beloved father. He will believe that the last time was just luck, and this _doctor_ is fake."

"This will drive a rift between Rodriguez and Grey, as well as destroy her reputation, and we'll see how Master copes with the true multi-billionaire in the country."

…

Christian stared at the scene before him, mouth agape. There was nothing sexually appealing about what he was seeing, and he found it revolting that he actually thought of this room and everything that occurred here his safe haven.

Heaven forbid, he must be having a nightmare right now.

This was _not_ what he had in mind when he decided to take her back here. Moreover, he at least should've still had someone swept the place and act more vigilantly.

_Their Christmas might as well be ruined just like their entire year._

Anastasia stepped into the room slowly, and registered her surrounding. It all felt so familiar, only this time, the lights were all on, the woman was naked, and the room was wrecked. Her brain stopped functioning, and she felt like she could pass out from her rapid heartbeat, but somehow, her facial expression and her exterior had remained numbly calm. Her interior was in utter chaos in the meantime.

Bending down, she picked up the riding crop at the foot of the suspended woman, who had her wrists bound together and hung from the suspension grid, which was stuck to the ceiling. Her feet were off the ground, her head hung unconsciously, and her hands were already turning purple.

The sole indication that she was still alive was the steady and peaceful rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing was shallow, but it was still present.

On her body, there were several marks imprinted by the very crop now in Anastasia's hand.

Christian held his breath tightly the moment his eyes followed her movements to pick up the instrument. He instantly identified it as his favorite crop, known to all of his previous subs.

He watched Anastasia, his own sweet loving girlfriend, raise the crop with a pair of hollow eyes and swatted at the body in suspension. The whip sliced through the air and sunk into her flesh briskly, leaving a fresh trail of redness in its wake.

He gasped at the contact as well as the action. There was nothing arousing about it, in fact, the longer he witnessed the motion being repeated, the sicker he felt as the belt bit into her mid-section; wrapping around the body only to loosen and come around again at a different part.

Until he lurched forward retching, adding to the continuous cacophony from the belt, did he truly realize just how affected and disturbed his lover had been in the mind.

He had been too lenient lately and it wasn't helping her in the least.

Silence ensued the room, and Taco was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps he had left the room after sensing the atmosphere growing heavier and heavier once his two owners showed up. He was currently curled up at the foot of the bed in the master bedroom. It still had his scent mixed with his owners, which offered him comfort.

He sighed and shuffled his chin so they were now rested atop of the tip of his front paws. His eyes barely opened but his ears were shifting back and fro trying to catch any abnormal sound, or that someone might be in distress. He didn't feel very secure at the moment, but no one was here to offer him support. So, he kept his eyes at the door.

"Ana!" Christian shouted, effectively breaking the trance that Anastasia was in. Her head turned to him sharply, and for a split second, all he could see was the emptiness on her face, and the pair of hollow blue eyes that were void of everything.

She quashed the demon in her and the human form returned, at least her eyes had shown some life in them. The harsh instrument dropped from her grasp landing on the floor making a series of noises as the plastic handle touched the polished wooden ground.

When his eyes refocused, he shook out the fear inside of him and took a better look at the woman standing in the middle of the room who now appeared everything like a Domme sans the appropriate getup. The bright light shone on to the walls reflected onto her face, the tear stains catching light and shimmered under the beams. Fresh droplets were rolling out of her eye sockets and moving down her cheeks, following the trails of the stains, ending up on the ground like the previous.

"I'm fine," she said in a calm and even tone. It was as if nothing happened, and she wasn't the one that just whipped a corpse.

He gradually regained his composure and recognized that her body had betrayed her voice—she was shaking. Her eyes were still trained on the thoroughly whipped nude form swinging slightly at the anchor. There was nothing readable on her face, nor in her eyes; she was expressionless.

In a few quick and powerful strides, he was by her side pulling her into his chest.

The dam broke.

Her body shook violently along with her shoulders. There was no additional sound other than her hushed and muffled sniffles. He held her tighter and her cries got worse.

They were soundless, but he could feel her whimpers and sobs even if they weren't physically audible. This was all the emotion pent-up in her and the feelings she forced herself to sweep under the rug without formal process.

It was the bursting of the bitter pills that she coerced down her throat without proper digestion.

And now, it was acting up.

The floodgate didn't open solely due to the explosion of the squashed emotions, but also because of the realization of what she'd just done' it had shook her to the core, to the extent that she could barely recognize herself. Even she was fearing for her mental wellbeing.

He quickly shot a text to Taylor and resumed putting his focus on soothing her. He knew he couldn't let the terrified feeling shown, because she was prone to panic even more once she felt his anxiousness.

He channeled his CEO persona, which wasn't really as tough as he used to be. He had completely opened himself up to her, and there was nothing in between them. If she was hurting like right now, he couldn't help but feel the anxiety that he had only felt once when he watched his empire crumble at the hands of TMZ—or the press in general—and Elena Lincoln.

"Baby," he crooned against her crown as he felt her breathing evened out.

"I'm okay," she took a deep, shaky breath and attempted to pull away from him, but he was hesitant on letting her go. "No, I'm really fine, Christian."

Taylor's entrance caught Taco's attention, and he got up from his spot in the master's bedroom to join him at the foyer. The man was slightly surprised at the hound's sudden appearance but made no comment, rather he simply greeted the pup with a pat on his head.

He entered the playroom following the trial that he had taken so many times in the past—none for a remotely pleasant let alone delightful reason. Upon briefly scanning the room for hidden potential threats like he understandably missed last time, he gasped horrified at the scene before him; even as an ex-military, it was magnificently disturbing.

Schooling in his facial expression and emotion, he took a step forward prepared to clear her throat to announce his arrival, but Taco beat him to it with his panting breaths. The pooch stood stock still next to the military man apprehensively. His innocent and gullible brown eyes stared at his owners in the middle of the room still in a tight embrace, a well beaten flesh hand stopped moving next to them.

"Don't call the police," Christian loosened his grip around Anastasia when Taco's nails on the floor as he walked and his slight panting attracted their full attention. She took this time to step away and disentangled herself from him. She patted down her clothes, smoothing the wrinkles and wiped her eyes discretely, careful of her makeup; trying to appear normal and not like someone who had just cried till her heart was content.

"Sir," Taylor gestured to the nude form hung from the ceiling.

"Make it look like she trespassed and that's it. Wipe out evidence that we," pointing to himself and Anastasia, "were ever here. Get whoever to help you," that was the hint to employ Welch, Barney, Sawyer, and maybe Burt to get this done.

It was fact that she had trespassed but the rest shouldn't be included.

Taylor nodded, he could sense downheartedness from the couple for ruining his, and many more people's Christmas Eve, but they also understood that the couple would be more disturbed that them. At least he and the guys knew what they signed up for when they chose to stick by Grey in his darkest times. Grey on the other hand, knew nothing about what to anticipate in life because problems find him just like God laughed at plans humans made.

…

Never in a million years would he thought that he would allow her to just brush off what had happened earlier in the penthouse just because she was feeling better now.

The old him would definitely dismiss her reasoning that it was Christmas and no one should be working. He would shot back and remind her that he paid Flynn a hefty amount to be on his beck and call; for sure. He would demand that she talk to Flynn directly no matter how considerate she wanted to be for the good doctor and his family. The charity gala that they were attending was definitely out of the question if his old self surfaced.

Ironically, he was in their closet looking for an appropriate outfit for the gathering.

"Wear the face mask or don't go at all, Christian." Anastasia stalked up to him angrily, this was the single event that he didn't want to turn down. Despite the flu, he still insisted on attending this one risking the potential wrath of his girlfriend. He thought he had made a huge difference by cancelling the rest of the functions and pushing the GEH Christmas party back.

Apparently, that wasn't enough for her in her standard.

"Fine, we're not going then," Christian glared at her challengingly. He had been chalking her behavior lately up as her anxiety from the outbreak of the flu, which he completely understood since they only just came out of a traumatic experience. However, she had been going overboard this time with the social events.

She stood at the entrance of the closet where he was picking out the outfit for tonight. They were only attending this one charity because he was still a big donor despite the slight financial stagnation. He had chosen to remain involved in this group because they were small and private, which meant they were truly non-profit.

Charities that were bigger and more well-known like Coping Together more or less had lost the non-profit component that the started out honoring. He knew that Coping Together was now ran by Mia and supported by Elliot, but he had deliberately avoided to be associated in any way shape or form.

"You know you're being irrational right now, Ana," he steadied his racing thought and put down whatever was in his hands. He adjusted his stance so that he was fully facing her. "I wouldn't have accepted the invitation if I knew that it would be a potential health risk."

"We can't afford to have more fuck-ups, especially with the way that our life hasn't returned to normal and that we're still living in the apartment that we rented."

Christian had no idea what prompted her paranoia, or her anxiety, but her feelings and emotions were slowly going haywire and getting out of control; more so since they saw the playroom with Leila in it. He was more than tempted to call Flynn now, but he didn't want to tick her off even more.

"It is a small get-together. A thank-you party for all the donors, which isn't much to begin with. You know that. You had been there since the beginning."

Anastasia glared at him hotly. She just wanted to make sure that everything was under control so that they wouldn't have to repeat the same mistake for not staying on top of everything.

"You don't have to be so difficult, Ana. The flu hasn't get to Seattle majorly. People died in other states that aren't in Washington. Just because your colleagues are sent over to the frontline doesn't mean that it's here. I understand that it makes you feel that you're very close to the source since your colleagues are sent away, but that also means that it's been contained."

She still appeared unconvinced, and this was all of her stubborn personality combined with her inability to relax. Funny how she was the one that needed to chill and stop being so strained all the time, and not him. He believed that she needed to breath and maybe she needed that vacation more than him.

Stress had never been the best to add to the mix in a relationship. Especially when the couple were not exactly on the best of terms at the moment.

To avoid exposure to the crowd for long hours, the charity hosts had moved the ball to the afternoon which would end early in the evening. He just needed to convince her that they were still able to live their life normally. It wasn't the first time that a flu broke out in the states and caused multiple deaths.

She didn't have to be so uptight and cautious like they were made out of virus-attracting material. In fact, it had been identified that it wasn't even a coronavirus like the SARS back in 2003, so she really didn't need to freak out like the way she did. He had purposely took out the part where she told him that he should work remotely and shut down the building until further notice in the email he sent his employees, as well as the part where she urged them to cancel the Christmas party.

He stared at her, an internal debate battled within his mind. He could see her struggles and her reasoning, but in his current state of mind, he wasn't sure that he could remain as patient as he had been and act compassionately.

This was it. He had made a decision, right there and then. In a spur of courageous surge, he knew that he had to put his foot down.

"We're not going," he announced again, this time meaning those words. He made a move to hung his tux back up and returned every piece of formal clothing back into the closet just to show that he meant business. "Put on something casual and comfortable, I'm sending a check."

It never felt so… liberating to command someone again. Not even command, but simply make a decision that he thought was sound.

She appeared stunned. Frozen at the very least.

"Where are we going?"

Instead of answering her, he raised his phone to his ear, and listened to the ringing tone as he waited for it to be picked up.

"John, hi. Listen, I'm sorry for intruding on your family holiday, but I need some help." He listened to the response and a faint smile showed on his face. "Okay, see you in a bit, and thank you for doing this in such short notice."

Without meeting Anastasia's interrogating glare, he typed out a text message to the charity board apologizing for dropping out last minute, citing a family emergency. Then, he texted Taylor informing him the change of plans and thanking him and whoever pulled themselves away from their family to sort through the mess in his playroom.

"It's funny how we have to call in favors to set a trial date when all the evidence that piled before the judge couldn't," he chuckled wryly at the new message from Burt. Typing out a quick response, he placed the device aside and proceeded to throw on casual attires on himself.

"What?"

He glanced up briefly to spy that she was moving in slow motion, but at least putting on clothes. She was probably in some kind of denial at the moment. She looked like she was in a daze.

"The first day back to work, Tuesday January twenty-fourth," he recited, but he was faintly aware that her focus was probably still on the fact that she didn't get what she wanted, or that he had actually called his psychotherapist. He half registered that the lawsuit he filed for many press companies for slandering and defamation was yet to be settled, despite the positive vibe his lawyer was giving him. He could probably get the money that everyone thrown in to save his company from the compensation from the media companies.

"Why are we going to see Doctor Flynn?" She uttered, pronouncing the professional title of the man when she was actually on first name basis with him. "We're going to interrupt their holiday just like we've done to a lot of people already, starting with Taylor and Gail. Whatever it is, surely it can wait until after the holidays."

He simply observed her, thinking about what to say. Might as well settle for the truth in times like this.

"Because I'm worried about you, Anastasia."

"You think I've gone mad, haven't you?" She whispered, horrified at the acknowledgement and the possibility of it actually being true.

"No, but I think you've reached your limit baby," he told her gently, cupping her cheeks to steady her shaking body and in an attempt to calm her down. "I love you, and I will be with you no matter what. Remember that," he vowed to her while locking eyes with her to display his sincerity and imploring her to have faith in them.

…

The door closed behind them with a soft click that still made Anastasia flinch.

"This is probably the first time you came to me in such a calm and collected manner, and sounding so patient and apologetic."

Christian chuckled along with the good doctor. They had briefly greet the rest of his family, which the couple was also familiar with, other than the little girl of theirs. Luckily, under Anastasia's insistence, they had brought each of the family member a little something as some sort of Christmas gift.

"How can I help you two today?" John asked once all parties settled comfortably, each in an armchair in the room, around a glass coffee table with their water atop.

Casting a nervous glance at his girlfriend, Christian took the initiative to recount the most recent development, or rather incident that occurred in the playroom.

"So, are you looking for a couple's therapy today or just counselling to get into each other's mind better?"

"We can come back for an appointment after the New Year," Christian suggested after staring at the now mute Anastasia for a beat.

John nodded.

"Maybe we should start from the very beginning. Ana?" John prompted.

"What's there to talk about?" Anastasia grumbled under her breath, clearly still unamused by practically being dragged over.

"Christian?" John didn't waste his breath on her as he allowed her sone more time to ponder.

He had nothing to say either because he couldn't identify the trouble in their relationship, so he recounted all the incidents since she was released from the hospital. Most of which Flynn was already aware of, but for her benefit, he still repeated them.

"What's your verdict then, doctor?" Anastasia broke the silence and pulled John from his own musing.

"Let me summarize it for you. First, you vetoed Isaac's adoption, and Christian defended his parents prior to learning about what went down in the penthouse. Then, Christian dropped the subject at your insistence because the trip to your parents' seems futile. Next, Christian voiced that you wouldn't let him out of your sight in Brighton, and he felt micromanaged. Lastly, there's the small details such as you forcing him into accepting the cash from your auctions, and demanding him to work from home as well as cancel the Christmas party."

"They all stemmed from having his best interest at heart," she protested weakly.

"To you, yes. However, consider this, Ana, _why_ did you feel the immense and intense need to do all this?"

"To protect him. He would've done the same to me."

"Think about it more deeply. Christian, why _didn't_ you voice your objections?"

"Because she wouldn't listen!"

"Think again," John said patiently, sounding as if he had an answer.

Admittedly, he didn't but he had an idea where the problem laid. In his opinion, and from what he had been told, he trusted that if the playroom scene hadn't occurred, they would be leading toward an unhealthy relationship; and would never go to him.

"What I did for christian are always within reason."

"Seemingly normal explanations, yes," John nodded concurring. "However," _and here's the twist_. "What _caused_ this?"

Anastasia shrugged.

"Does this protectiveness has anything to do with your experience in the past twelve months?"

"Perhaps," she considered. "It does leave one's psyche damaged after practically witnessing your lover being slowly pushed into suicide by a single person, and meanwhile you're helpless. All I could do was watch and there's nothing that I could do until he was already on the verge of no return."

John hid his smile, at least he got her talking, and that was a huge step forward given that she had probably never spoken those words aloud before. It was an improvement.

"Admittedly, he wasn't committing suicide, but to be forced into faking one is extreme enough."

"So, why the coddling?" John brought the discussion back on track.

"I just don't want to see it ever happening again. Hence, I try to control whatever I can just so such tragedy could be avoided. We have to learn from our mistakes, right?"

"Right," he confirmed. "however, while you are exerting control over him, does that mean you don't trust him to make sound decisions for himself?"

"I do trust him, but I don't know what curveball life is going to throw at us, so I am constantly on high alert."

"Then, have you maybe considered asking him how he feels all this time? Perhaps you failed to realize that what you're doing is actually coddling him in an unwanted way."

Anastasia pursed her lips together tightly in a thin line.

"No, so perhaps I've been stressing myself out all this time for no reason at all? Because I'm paranoid?"

"Paranoid, but not in the medical sense, not in that definition. You are just trying to use your work to divert your attention and distract yourself from the stress you've put on yourself, and the uncontrollable variables in life."

"What do you suggest I do then?" Anastasia wasn't completely convinced that she was coddling him but she was willing to do anything to end this session sooner, because she hated troubling others with her own problems. She would admit that she might've been a little paranoid lately, but she didn't think it was that severe.

"Try channeling your stress through other relievers. Your pet dog for instance, or a massage. Or, you can even try practicing what Christian used to do without the icing on top," John advised with a bit of jibing bite at the end. "Sex helps, seriously," he switched his behavior. "Try accepting that what had happened isn't your fault and cannot be controlled. After digesting the sordid details of the past, it'll help you move forward better. Otherwise, come back to me after the New Year, and I can help, or I can ask someone else to help you if you're uncomfortable talking to me since I am Christian's therapist."

"Do you think moving back to the penthouse will help? People usually advocate facing the demons outright to defeat them. So, maybe living with the ghosts in the penthouse may help?"

"It might, but that may also turn the complete opposite direction," John warned before moving to Christian, giving her some time to digest and make a decision or at least contemplate her options.

"I know I've been too lenient and soft lately, but she's under a lot of stress and I don't want to push her away further and distancing myself by being unsupportive and not amiable. She might just one day decides that I'm not worth all the shit because I keep objecting to her requests, and pack her bags."

"What, and high tail out of your life? Christian, this insecurity is totally unnecessary. Do you remember our conversation when you came to me about her question on obligations?" Christian nodded gradually, not seeing the correlation at this instance. "Besides, did you just hear what she had confessed just moments ago?" John stopped abruptly, letting his patient finish his sentence by answering the questions.

_Anastasia loved him to bits, and he needed to believe that._

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

[2/24 2020] RIP Mamba & Mambacita

**X**


	51. Leave The Past Behind

**_Leave the Past Behind_**

Hours later, it was just around the time the function that they were going to attend to end, Flynn's office door unlocked and opened. Rhian subtly sucked in a breath unbeknown to their kid currently submerged in the world of Teletubbies.

Her husband was the first to make an appearance in the living room, though his emergence was absolutely neglected by his daughter, he gave his wife a wide grin and a nod with a small thumb's up. The session went as well as it could in such a short amount of time. Not to mention, a large sum was going to end up in their account later; but this was the least of Flynn's concerns.

"She's watching Teletubbies, Christian!" Rhian watched the young couple slowly showed their face in the living room long after her husband returned. They were beaming at each other. It appeared that whatever hot issue they originally had were resolved.

Perhaps only temporarily.

Perhaps reinforcements at a later stage was required.

"What's that?"

"You've never watched that?" The young woman gasped at her boyfriend who was staring at her goofily.

"What, are you going to suggest that we do that for our Christmas Eve?"

Rhian watched the banter thoroughly entertained. She didn't want to interrupt their moment, and neither did Flynn judging by the faint smile on his face, but they'd have to because they were trying to establish a routine for their daughter, so they'd always have dinner at around five or six.

"Rhian, I am so sorry to intrude on your family today," Anastasia brought her in once she recognized that they were now with company.

"No, we're happy to help any way we can. We weren't doing anything special anyway. Please, would you like to stay for dinner, or just a bit longer to catch up?" Rhian offered kindly, but it only made Anastasia feel worse.

"Oh no, please, resume your family time. I'm sure John is already sick of us by now," the young brunette declined, spying Christian chatting with the man on the side in hushed voices, but their demeanor seemed relaxed.

Rhian didn't insist any further, and they made small talks while they waited for the men.

Once Christian rejoined her, they made their way to the car together. She was till slightly edgy with the latest news that she had three bat shit crazy stalkers who were apparently now waiting for trial, which was a month away.

"Are you still mad at me?" He finally broke the silence on their drive back to the apartment at Elliott Bay.

"I'm not, and I wasn't."

He didn't seem the least bit convinced but he remained silent.

"I was just… caught off guard."

"Because I went against your wishes?"

"No, well not exactly. That might be part of the reason unknown to me, but I still don't like the idea of spilling my guts to a stranger and wait for their judgement."

"John was professional, wasn't he?"

"Yes, so I guess it's probably my pride that prevented me from seeing a therapist."

He couldn't exactly disagree with it, but he didn't want to make her mood plummet even more.

"My pride also stopped me from doing plenty of things, starting from admitting that I can't digest and internalize all the shit that had happened in the past by myself. Micro or macro, I had trouble accepting, so that prompted the series of thinking and abnormal ideology."

"You need to stop being so hard on yourself. You're human and you make mistakes, it's okay to seek help."

She nodded assenting but absentmindedly. Her mind was still reeling in something that John had said, which stuck with her as well as triggered her own reflection.

_"Sex helps, seriously."_

Perhaps she had been denying herself and Christian the pleasure that would add a sweetener to their purportedly plummeting relationship.

"I'd like to try something tonight," she whispered, perforating the silence that made Christian's mind race with conflicting doubts.

He glanced at her fleetingly before turning his attention back to the road ahead. She was faced away from the driver's seat and sporting an unreadable expression.

"Are you up to making dinner together?" She twisted around to stare at him just moments after he turned away.

"We can have Gail send something over, or eat out."

"I want to cook with you," she confessed softly, and almost shyly. It had taken a repeat of John's words and Christian's feelings to stop herself from ruining the moment by bringing up the flu and telling him that they shouldn't be in contact with too many people. "How does my lasagna sound?"

He gave her a genuine shy smile that only she had seen, the sight always made her heart flutter and her knees weak.

What Christian was worried about the most was not the lack of intimate physical connection they had, though he did crave for it. He was more concerned with the possibility of her returning to her previous mindset, and experience a major setback before beginning the therapy officially. All he wanted was to end the year on a good note to compensate for all that she had suffered through the year.

"Sure," he quipped lightly. "Lasagna sounds good to me. Especially, if it's your recipe," he grinned cheekily.

He idly wondered why she insisted on cooking at home, surely it wasn't about the influenza. John had got her to loosen up a lot already, and he didn't want to believe that she was _this_ stubborn. They would more likely have to return to Flynn for more sessions in the near future to settle the last bit of tension so they could hopefully have a smoother sail in the new year together.

Nonetheless, he believed that they could have an untroubled holiday now that they were both somewhat at ease and had a deep meaningful conversation that had addressed the elephant in the room.

They soon arrived home and was greeted by their overzealous four year-old St. Bernard—strictly speaking, he was five years old now—who roughly and mindlessly gave each of them a hug before trotting back to the guest room.

"Tucks!" Christian heard from Anastasia in the guest room scolding their pup. He stifled a laugh knowing full well that Taco had probably stole another cardigan or scarf of hers from their bedroom.

When he arrived at the _crime scene_ he saw Taco eyeing him from the corner that he had been banished to, he was screaming _help_ but Christian needed to be on an united front with Anastasia in order to not spoil his attitude further. This pooch had already gotten away with a lot just by channeling his little puppy eyes at them.

Taco wasn't remotely a well-trained dog in any area compared to the examples on the internet, and nothing online seemed to match the description of their dog; he seemed like one of a kind with his own ideas. However, if Anastasia or Christian raised their voices and acted stern, Taco would pretend like they were wrongly accusing the most innocent hound on the planet. The moment they turned their backs, Taco would be bouncing up and down like nothing had happened.

Right now, that was exactly how Taco looked—wronged.

As expected, the moment the couple turned their backs and headed for the kitchen to prepare food for themselves, Taco leapt up and trailed behind them as if they were going to make him dinner.

"What are you doing out here like you didn't just empty my entire closet searching for my perfume?"

Christian chortled along with Taco's wagging tail, the pooch also laughed as he stick out his tongue and panted slightly.

Everything was now back to normal as it seemed, and Taco's mood was lifted with the tension in the apartment dissipated. Taco suddenly felt so much more joyful and delighted now that the stress was gone, he even behaved and sat down patiently waiting for one of the busy bees to notice his always growling stomach and drooling mouth.

After awhile of plain observation resulting only a few glances casted in his way, he upped his game and moved to sit in the center of the aisle between the stove and the island counter, so whenever the couple shuffled they would step on him and thus notice him.

"Did you see him just moving over to remind us of his presence?" Christian laughed, pointing.

"I thought that's because you got the ground beef in your hands," Anastasia glanced at Taco discretely before returning to her vegetable washing duty.

"Well, now's because of the sound of the plastic wrapper. Look at him," he chortled as he held up the empty wrapping at his nose to play with him. Taco stood on his hind legs when the wrapping lifted, and his nose didn't stop sniffing at the object held in the air. When he found out that he wasn't going to get it through force, he sat down like an obedient puppy that he was not, and stared at Christian expectantly full of hope.

Anastasia giggled when she moved past the duo to retrieve the frozen ground beef to put into the microwave to defrost. Their daft dog was still after the plastic wrapper, barely glancing at the actual meaty content that was removed from the bag. Taco peered at her from the side of his eyes like he was watching out for a potential enemy when she moved the beef into a plate.

"You know you could've been chewing on a real piece by now instead of licking a wrapper if you weren't so dumb and trusted Christian, of all people."

"I do give him treats, okay?" Said owner protested after his girlfriend's insinuation.

"After you tricked him in every possible way," she giggled, feeling sympathetic for this dog who would for sure die for food, if not getting sold with it.

"Trick or treat," he waved the plastic before Taco, taunting him.

Rolling her eyes at her boyfriend, she returned to prepping their food. He and Taco would make the perfect pair at the circuit, she sometimes believed. Between the two of them, she was more like the mom to Taco and Christian was just the older brother who would goof around and get the younger one in trouble with mommy.

"Start cutting up, Christian!" _It was the older brother in trouble this time._

He tossed the wrapper to the side and immediately went to the cutting board, picking up the knife to go through the items placed next to it. Taco took it as the perfect chance to sneak up to the now unguarded plastic bag.

"Tucks," Anastasia called out sternly just before Taco had the chance to open his mouth and snatch it away, the tip of his nose was already touching the bag, and the moist from his nose had left a visible trail on the wrapper. "Forget it, Tucks."

The dog gave it one last sniff before moving on to sniffing Christian as if asking for compensation for getting caught redhanded. Instead, he got a tiny piece of cheese that Anastasia couldn't shred any further without hurting herself. He licked his lips and nose, not even a second after the dairy product disappeared in his mouth.

_That clearly wasn't even remotely enough._

Anastasia watched the expression on Taco's face, and he appeared like one of those who was affronted for being deceived. It was as if she didn't actually feed him. His head dropped in disappointment once she showed him her empty palms. He trotted back to Christian; the older brother was easier to get tricked into giving him food.

He peered up at Christian with hopeful eyes that seemed to say, "mommy is starving me, so you feed me."

Christian didn't have anything for him either so he gave him a piece of carrot as if it was any similar to the cheese. Taco caught it happily but quickly spat it out to sniff at it, then take it back into his mouth chewing it like it was nastier than shit, but better than nothing.

…

Taco squared his shoulders next to the table, still sniffing at the empty plates expressing his desire to lick them clean before they go into the dishwasher.

"What's for dessert?" Christian daubed his mouth with a tissue paper. Taco's eyes followed his hands and his head tilted to the side at the question, as if he was wondering the very same thing.

"Dessert," Anastasia toyed with the word and watched Taco's head tilt to an even greater angle. "There's no dessert, Tucks."

"No dessert for you, Tucks, because you haven't even eat dinner."

"I've got another idea for _our_ dessert," she announced, suddenly all coy and shy.

Christian's eyes lit up but dimmed almost right after, refusing to get ahead of himself.

"Go feed Tucks and I'll clear the table, or we can switch because Tucks also needs to go out."

"Wait," he stopped her, he was willing to do whatever if he had correctly deciphered her implication earlier. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking about dessert?"

She stepped away from the table to met him at the side gradually, to stall time. He trained his eyes on her and they followed her until she was standing right before him. He waited for her to make the first move, because he knew it would definitely be the other way around if they were heading down the path he was highly anticipating at the moment.

Just thinking about the possibilities excited him.

She slowly lifted her right hand, cupping his cheek and caressing his face with her thumb. Her love bracelet unveiled from beneath her long-sleeve sweater, catching light from the ceiling and shone proudly on her wrist. He internally beamed at it as he relished in her gentle touch.

"I was thinking…" he could feel her speak with his eyes closed, feel the air coming out of her mouth and hitting his lips. She leaned in closer and now he could feel the heat radiating off of her. "That we could have each other as dessert."

Rather than stupidly asking for a clearer confirmation, he assured himself that they were on the same page; at last.

He didn't wait for her to blink an extra blink and yanked her against him to close the remaining distance between their lips. She moaned into their kiss the instant their mouth collided, as if she had been missing this physical connection and she didn't even know it.

This kiss was everything she had—they had both— yearned for the longest time. The passion, the fury, and the fire poured into it made all the previous ones they shared improper and invalid. This should be what smooching your lover was like, and it should always be this way because they would always feel this way about one another.

"Go feed Tucks and take him out briefly. Wear a mask and don't talk to people. Change before you leave and make sure you wash your hands with soap after you come back. I'll be waiting for you… in bed."

_That sounded promising!_

The way she rattled orders at him only turned him on even more and made him want her even more than possible. Before he could give her a preview of what await them, she was in the kitchen with the dirty plates in her arms.

All of a sudden, he wasn't in a rush to marry her. The urge that had been there since he saw her in the hospital had diminished. Perhaps that was because he was no longer afraid of losing her, at least not so eagerly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

…

True to her words, he found her in bed on her stomach with her legs bent and feet swirling in the air scrolling through her phone with a serious expression.

The promise to wait for him in bed was the greatest motivation for him. He wasn't even _that_ frustrated when Taco didn't cooperate and played around for a long time before deciding it was time to poop. By the time he was dragged home, he had already drained his bladder, which meant he had been having too much fun than he was actually allowed under the circumstances.

Christian crept out of the en suite and tip toed to the end of the bed. Anastasia had yet to notice his presence and the looming danger.

He lunged at her back and picked her up, making her yelp and her phone discarded somewhere during the process. She now had her back pressed tightly against his bare front.

"My dessert," he chuckled in her ear. "You promised me," he reminded her sultrily in her ear while nibbling along her neck down to her shoulder, all the while leaving a wet trail with the tip of his tongue. "Can I have it now? I want it now." He purred, making her shiver involuntarily, and he smirked lazily but triumphally at her reaction.

Her giggles grew louder with each teasing ministration from his mouth, and his hands didn't stop roaming her front while holding her tightly against him. He was buck ass naked, and he did that on purpose just to goad her.

He silently observed her reactions, and watched if there were any remaining hesitation in her regarding full penetration sex.

There was nothing but encouragement from her body language.

She was moaning, and gasping at each of his advances. He smirked proudly, this was exactly how he wanted her to be—relaxed and moaning in his arms without a care in the world, and just taking all the pleasure he was giving her. He would prefer to hear her scream like a wanton slut, but he wasn't sure how far she was going to let him take her tonight.

He felt her knees buckle when his thumbs tweaked his nipples, and her body slumped against his. She writhed in his arms, but her body was locked firmly against his, and there was nowhere she could go with her head already thrown back against his collarbone.

"Christian… oh!" She whimpered, grinding her hips against his thigh seeking just a tinge of friction.

He felt the moist and the heat through her covered sex, and he swore she was leaving her arousal all over his flesh because it definitely soaked through her panties.

"Are you going to cum like this?" He bit down on a mouthful of skin at the base of her neck where her veins pulsated loudly, sucking it and making loud noises that were now overtaking the sound of her own whimpers, moans, and pants.

That was what she had missed, and she had no idea she was so sensitive to his touch. She thought she would be taking control like she did the last time she blew him, but this felt so much better.

Suddenly, she was on her back.

"Christian!" That came out has half a protest and half in anticipation.

He laughed at her tone while hovering above her with his hands on each side of her head.

"Do you realize that you have too many layers on?"

"Undress me, then," she instructed breathily, arching her back to push her breasts upward so they were closer to his face. It was extremely inviting to him, but he resisted the urge just to tease her longer.

He made a move to lick it but moved away from it just millimeters apart where the tip of his tongue would touch her tit.

"Kiss me, baby," she panted out in mere desperation when he removed his mouth and sat up straddling her just to help her shed the clothes. She groaned at him as he did everything with the patience of a saint, the speed of an old snail, simply trying to prolong the torture.

He was enjoying every second of it.

_Bastard!_

She scowled at his lazy seductive smirk. His hands tossed the cloth away and shuffled south.

"Christian!" Her head shot up suddenly at the sound of fabric tearing apart.

"Your eyes were telling me everything, Ana," he quipped lightly and threw the torn panties to the ground. "You were cursing me in your mind with every coherent world you could think of for taking my sweet time."

_He was spot on!_

And, there she thought he was going to speed up the entire process and just get on with the main course when he slowed down again. First, he spread her legs wide apart. Next, he got in between them. Then, he nestled and shifted to get comfortable, positioning his face right before her glistening core.

Just when she was going to help move things along, he lowered his head and pried her folds open. He licked his lips, salivating at the sight in front of him, and pulled away to admire it for a few brief moments.

"So beautiful," he praised almost dreamily, whispering against her fully exposed pussy now within his tongue's reach.

She sucked in a breath in a futile attempt to rein in her cries when he gave her slick opening a long lick.

_Oh, how I missed that tongue._

Christian grabbed a handful of her ass cheeks with each hand and cupped them, squeezing them occasionally; all the while feasting on her cunt and drinking up all her juice. All the emotions festered inside of her now breaking free as she cried out silently and her breath picked up.

"Her elbow could no longer support her weight as all blood rushed to her core and her head dropped to the bed, hitting the mattress. Her arms thrashed wildly, clawing at everything and anything within reach.

"Oh my," she gasped loudly.

Propping herself up on one elbow, the other reached down to push him even closer into her, as if the tongue that was twirling and teasing the walls inside of her vagina wasn't enough stimulation.

The pleasure was almost too much to bear.

"Baby…" she mewled, pulling at his hair. Her hand reached for her clit to add to push herself over the edge, but got shoved away. She lifted her legs and attempted to throw them over his shoulder blades, but that also got denied as he grabbed his inner thighs roughly.

"Ah!" The back of her head dropped to the mattress again with the addition of his teeth, grazing at her sensitive flesh and finally biting down on her clit—exactly where she wanted.

It was also what she needed to cum, gloriously.

"I'm not done yet."

_Oh my, she's still on cloud nine._

"Bring it on!"

His fingers started to trail up and down her body, touching her everywhere and anywhere, but just not the apex of her thighs. They danced from her front to her back, from her calf to her thighs; her frustration was growing and she was getting impatient.

She whimpered again, and raised her hips in search of his hand for some much needed friction or touch.

"Whatever it is, you'll have to talk to me. Communication is very critical."

_That teaser!_

"I want you."

"You have me."

_Just knew that he was going to say this! Might as well be blunt._

"I want your fingers in my pussy, then I want you to fill me up until your balls are slapping against my cunt!" She snipped impatiently in one breath—tramp Anastasia in the house.

If he was shocked by her dirty mouth, he didn't show it. Instead, he dutifully obliged. Only slightly altering her request a little.

"Whatever you want," he moved his hand all the way to her dampen core but didn't push his fingers in, instead, he moved them around feeling her texture and the way they seemed to pulsate under his touch.

After getting reacquainted with her sex once he felt her up, all the while distracting her with his mouth, he inserted one finger.

"Oh fuck, you're still so tight, Ana," he moaned in her neck. "Let's see how fast I can make you cum like this."

He added a second finger and sped up.

Her walls were quick to clamp down on his fingers, and her legs quivered at the new found intensity under this rapid pace that he had set.

"Come on, baby," he changed in her ear and curled his fingers so the tip scratched the inside of her walls. "I feel you quivering… cum for me."

Her moans only got louder, and she gasped trying to get out a coherent string of words, but all she could do was whisper a portion of his name. Her hips pushed down against his hand, meeting every thrust to push herself over the edge.

"Fuck my hand, baby. Use me to make yourself cum," he encouraged. His lips firmly wrapped around a nipple, playing with it using his tongue, sending her over into a frenzy.

"Yes, Christian!" She gripped his shoulders moving her hips faster until she was tipped over the edge.

"So tight!" He grunted next to her ear the same time she yelped in surprise at the intrusion when she was still orgasming. Her eyes immediately rolled to the back of her head, overwhelmed by the fullness. "Open your eyes and look at me," he growled in command.

Her eyes snapped opened at his rough order, this sounded more like the man she remembered—the Alpha male.

"Feel me, Anastasia," he demanded, moving in and out of her at a torturously slow pace.

Her sex was already oversensitive by now, and his sweet assault wasn't making it any better. She really was out of practice.

"Oh my god, Christian," she moaned when he pulled out to the tip only to push back in to the halt, and repeat the movement. His hand quickly found her clit through her tender folds, pinching it.

It was as if he wanted her to climax fast.

"This is too much," she thrashed her limbs, and her back arched even further into his chest. She only just came minutes ago and he was going to make her cum again.

He adjusted his angle so he was hitting a deeper spot. She screamed at the contact, and he smirked smugly like he had just hit jackpot.

"Take it, baby. Take it all," he responded that came out more like an order. That didn't stop her cries, it only got her to increase in volume.

His lips claimed hers but that only muffled her cries and intensified the tingling inside of her. She was screaming through her throat as her toes curled in the throes of passion, she was getting close and he could feel it. His pace picked up, and his hips gyrated against hers, determined to push two more orgasms out of her.

He squeezed his eyes shut and stilled his movements to stop himself from coming with her when she clasped down on him tightly. His teeth sunk into her bottom lip, and his fingers wrestled with her hair.

Her scalp was slightly damp with sweat, and as he steadied himself, he saw that her eye lids were getting droopy as she came down from the high; but he wasn't done with her, yet. He was a greedy man, and he wanted one more from her.

"Baby," he crooned and gnaw at her skin from one collarbone to the other across her front, leaving physical marks along the way to get her attention. "I need you, baby. Come back to me."

She blinked her eyes open, and was met with with his beaming smile. He began to move again, and he could see the pleasure slowly overtaking her sleepiness.

He quickened his pace, knowing if he wished to cum together with her, he'd need to make it fast, because this impending orgasm would knock her out cold.

_My girl needs to build her stamina; she needs training._

"Cum with me, Ana," he chanted wheezingly and latched onto whichever area of exposed skin he could reach, from her throat to her sternum. He sat up, putting more weight on his knees and pounded into her harder. "Ready?" He growled.

She nodded, locking eyes with him.

"Fuck! Ana, baby!"

He heaved, rolling his eyes to the ceiling and gripped her hips as he rode out both of their orgasms. That was the last he'd seen of her beautiful blue orbs that night.

He chuckled affectionately at her blissful expression, she was now passed out with both of their cum leaking out of her. He would've been so turned on that he'd take her again in a different position if she wasn't so exhausted and passed out.

Reluctantly, he removed himself from her warmth to retrieve a wash cloth to wipe the both of them clean before climbing into bed next to her. Hugging her nude form to his bare skin, it was too long ago since he last did this with her; or with anyone. It was as if every problem had been resolved, and they could now claim their happily ever after.

Tomorrow would be Christmas day, and he had plans for them, and she was still unaware of them. However, he thought since John had helped settled her mind, and hopefully he had eased her stress with earlier's activity, she might be open to the idea of going somewhere with him.

He'd like to take her to meet his grandparents, the pair that he truly felt a connection with, and offered him unconditional and unlimited support.

Just like the woman currently snoring softly in his arms, tucked under his chin.

The GEH Christmas party had been rescheduled to Boxing Day after a vote, and he hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble with her for not actually cancelling it like she had demanded in the email.

For now, he had decided to not dwell on it because it would only stress himself out.

So, he closed his eyes and tightened his arms around her naked torso, at least he got to fall asleep like this every night from now on, and it was already a dream come true.

It didn't matter if he was still the Elite _Bachelor_.

…

They were woken up by the blaring sound of his alarm. It was only five in the morning, but that was the time when he usually took Taco out for their morning run. Though, considering that it was the holiday season and the flu season, he thought he could lay in a little longer before forcing himself away from the warm and soft body pressed against him.

"How are you feeling?" He asked quietly, noticing that she was also awake, thought not fully.

"Sore," she hummed into his chest.

"Good," he leaned down and smacked a loud kiss on her lips proudly. "But, I meant how're you feeling psychologically."

"Oh," she giggled giddily. "Much better," she answered, peering up at him through her lashes. "I feel so much calmer and like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulder. I've been so wound up tight lately that I don't even realize."

He gazed at her in pure adoration.

"I'm sorry if I've made you suffer."

He shook his head instantly dismissing that idea. "No, you haven't made me suffer."

She smiled and caressed his cheek, then stroked his bare chest.

"I love you, baby," he told her, sporting a stupidly huge grin. "But, I need to go take Tucks out."

"Way to ruin the moment," she pouted playfully but he knew she'd be asleep the moment he got out of bed. "Don't be long," she told him as she watched him move away from the bed, and the next time he turned around, her eyes were closed and her breath evened.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	52. Outtake 1 (xxxvii)

**Outtake #1**

* * *

_**Christmas MMXVI**_

CHRISTMAS DAY 2016

For the first time in four years, Christmas Eve and Day were on the days that she didn't have to work. She knew she would've volunteered to cover for other people since she knew for a fact that her parents were going to DC again. She wasn't sure what Christian had planned but for some reason, she still believed that Christian would give his parents a silver lining of hope that he wouldn't be so harsh; even after he relayed what went down between him and his parents after they signed over the shares.

Grace and Carrick were now in Detroit pursuing the adoption of Isaac. How that would go, only god would know. Anastasia for one was praying that whoever Carrick or Grace's connection was wouldn't grant them this favor, but she also knew that they had money, and those cash would talk in Detroit.

"Where are we going?" She asked when he told her to dress up because they were going out for lunch.

"My grandparents'."

Anastasia hesitated.

"My parents are too busy trying to get whatever authority to agree on a bribery so they could have Isaac. They won't come back, don't worry."

She nodded slowly but still hesitant.

"We're going to the Trevelyans. I don't like the Greys. They're aloof and weak like Carrick"

"Okay," she quipped lightly, not making any comment. "Is that wannabe cousin of yours from…?"

"Yes," he laughed suddenly reminded of the trip they took this teenage girl on four years ago before that Fourth of July celebration. "She's going to be there. Do you mind?"

"No," she shrugged with a shake of her head. "Not really. I doubt she still remembers me."

"You'd be surprised," he murmured. Anastasia sure had left an impression on that girl that day with the way she spoke to her, and Christian knew that there was no way that their scandal had escaped a teenage girl like his cousin.

…

"Oh! Ana! I've heard so much about you! This boy won't stop rattling about you." Adele, Christian's grandma rushed forward as if she didn't just get a hip replacement surgery done. She squeezed Anastasia into her chest and Christian swore his girl was going to disappear into her large body. "I've missed you, dear."

"What?" Anastasia giggled awkwardly. "We've never met."

"Don't mind her, she's always exaggerating and talking shit," Theo pried Anastasia away and pampered her face with kisses. "It's so nice to finally meet you in person."

"Oh!" Anastasia pulled away from this weird family and shot Christian a look that screamed _help_ in capital letters. "Uh, hi?" She took another few steps back as if she couldn't even decide if Christian could protect her from his overzealous extended family.  
"Okay, we're leaving!" Christian announced making a move to head toward the door.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic, kids," Theo chastised. Adele had already disappeared into the room, this time limping a little appearing much like an old lady recovering from a surgery. "Come in."

Having already been scared shitless by the welcoming committee, Anastasia was having trouble finding a corner to hide in the grand mansion that the Trevelyans called home.

"Come on, I'll show you the apple trees that I used to pee against," Christian whispered in her ear clearly sensing her discomfort. He knew his grandparents would be greeting her this way ever since he told them that she was coming. They didn't comment on a single thing after the scandal broke out, they only offered their support anyway Christian accepted it, which was more appreciative than what his own parents had done.

"The what?" Anastasia shrieked, then quickly glanced around to make sure that they were alone. She was sure she had already developed PTSD from being ambushed.

"You're mad at me for not warning you, I know. I'm sorry," he laughed failing miserably to sound apologetic. "I swear I'll protect you better next time," he wrapped both arms around her shoulder and pulled her tight against his front as they made their way out of the back door to the equally large garden that Anastasia would call a forest.

"Next time? There's going to be a next time?" She squeaked, this time louder than the last since they were now outside. "Your family is crazy, Christian."

"Not any less than yours. Have you seen your parents? I swear I heard them the last time we were there."

Anastasia groaned. That was the last image she wanted in her head.

"Why didn't I see anyone else?"

"They're not here yet, we arrive early."

"Why?" She groused. That was exactly why she hated meeting new people, they were too unpredictable, and if everyone was zealous like his maternal grandparents, or indifferent like his own parents, or over romantic like her own parents, she swear she was going to just go into the woods and become a hermit for the rest of her life. "Okay, where's that tree, I bet it's dead already."

"I can't remember," he admitted. "I think I've probably chose a different tree each time."

"Are you serious?" She facepalmed, trying to disentangle herself from his hold suddenly finding him even weirder than the old couple she had just met.

"No," he laughed at her disgusted face. He was more certain than ever that the next time he brought her here, he would have to drag her here kicking and screaming. Might as well just abduct her. "But I'm sure Tucks has already found it since he's disappeared into the woods."

"Taco is going to pee on your tree."

"Okay, I was joking when I said I peed on every tree here," he buried his head in her hair and laughed. "I was just trying…"  
"To show that you fit right into this family. Yes, I can see that. You're equally weird and out of your damn mind!" She finished for him, only making him laugh harder.

"No," he protested weakly. "This is the orchard that I told you about. The one I was describing when I said one of your shampoos reminds me of this. Your hair always smells good, but you have a shampoo that has a fruit smell."

"Oh, that," she now recollected the conversation they had about each other's past. She never paid much attention to the skeletons in his closet since he revealed everything to her and showed her his playroom.

She didn't judge or take much into consideration at the time because for all she was concerned, they were faking a relationship for the public eye, so it really didn't matter what he had done in his private life; so, she had gradually stored that information in the back of her mind where she thought she had forgot about altogether. She had never anticipated that they'd be here, today, in a situation like this.

"It does smell a little like my hair," she admitted after sniffing around with her nose in the air.

"You're just like Tucks," he jested bumping his hip with hers. "And, speaking of the devil," he laughed pointing at their daft dog rolling around shaking his head in the thin sheet of snow barely covering the grass.

"If we turn the other way, I swear he's going to run around us just to repeat the same moves so we get to watch him."

"He's just an attention seeker."

They resumed the path further into the orchard where Christian introduced the other fruit trees. The snow wasn't heavy enough to cover the trees or make the branches white but it was enough to make Taco's coat wet.

"Ah!" Anastasia jumped and Christian's knees nearly buckled with the force that was Taco who came barreling to his owners. He was charging from the grass field when he noticed how far away he was from them, and bursted through in between their legs.

"Taco!" Christian feigned anger but Anastasia couldn't pull off that face since she couldn't stop giggling at Taco's expression.

He had his tongue out panting like a pooch running in the summer heat, it dangled on the side of his mouth blocked by his fangs. His big hazel eyes wide and innocent as he stared at the both of them looking the least bit chastised. Then there was his tail, it never stopped waggling. Upon hearing the tone Christian was using and the expression he was wearing, the tail briefly dropped as if he was in trouble but Anastasia's giggle gave him confidence.

And, now it wouldn't stop wiggling from left to right in rapid speed. No one would want to be within the peripheral of that tail. It would sure crack a bone or two in your leg.

"You are so cute," Anastasia squatted down ruffling the pooch's head but he retracted his head. "Oh, did I disturb your play time."

"I bet he's found an apple for himself," Christian mumbled when he spotted a small piece of apple still with its red peel stuck on the side of the dog's upper lip.

Anastasia moved her head around Taco's mouth trying to locate said apple but he happened to find her annoying since he kept shaking his head avoiding her.

"Tucks!"

That was the final straw. As if someone that was't Anastasia called his name, he turned around and bolted through the orchard, digging up dirt, leaves and grass on its way to whatever he had just discovered.

"He's just like you," Christian laughed at the helpless looking Anastasia who was still sulking on the floor. "You're keeping him from playing."

Forgetting about the pooch, the couple kept going on their stroll. It wasn't particularly cold since it was windy, and according to Christian, the rest of the party would be arriving at around lunch time.

"Do you think they'll like what we brought?"

"I told you we didn't even have to bring anything. I'm sure bringing Taco is enough for their entertainment."

Anastasia insisted on bringing a dessert and a dish over just to be polite. It was her first time going to his grandparents' house after all. They probably have met before on many occasions but was never officially introduced.

"Yes, they will. If they don't we still have Tucks, who's our ultimate loyal fan."

She rolled her eyes. Their furry baby would eat anything it was served in his bowl… or not in his bowl.

"Oh no, what's he done now," she groaned the same time Christian stopped walking to listen for the noise.

Someone was screaming bloody murder at the highest pitch musically possible and Taco was barking happily like Elliot laughing at his newest victim falling for his latest lame prank.

As they approached the house, they could see their dog running around the house slipping at every turn and making contact with almost every furniture. There was a small child running in front with a lollipop in his hand, and an adult chasing behind. Taco was in the middle, obviously enjoying this chase far too much.

"Taco!" Christian roared just in time for the little boy to toss his lollipop in Taco's direction.

Anastasia clapped her hands to get Taco's attention. He bounded over to them just as happy as he was before, only slightly disappointed that he didn't get to have that lollipop because he was being yelled no before he could reach it.

The dog was probably big enough for the kid to ride on, but what the pet was really interested was the food in the kid's hand. Now the kid was crying and the mom looked downright pissed.

"Uh oh," Anastasia whispered to Christian who nodded. "Tucks!" She scolded the dog who now had the decency to behave like he had done something bad. Still, his eyes were darting in between his disappointed owners and that lollipop which was now being picked up by the housekeeper and tossed in the trash.

"I think buying him another one is the least of our concerns."

"You can't chase people around like that, Tucks!" Anastasia crouched low to speak directly to the pooch who was now seated on the floor in front of her. "Come on, you're going to stay outside."

She had no idea how he got inside in the first place, but this time, she was going to be there and make sure that this daft pup remained outside before he was calm. Nevertheless, she doubted that Taco would be calm for the entire day since he was the kind who would get excited because there were people around. He loved to entertain everyone no matter how scared of him they were.

Christian sighed helplessly. It was his extended family and his dog, so he would have to man up and be the one to apologize, make amends and everything. It was a better decision to keep Taco outside with someone watching over him.

…

"Oh, so now you're just going to follow me around?" Anastasia scoffed at this dog who sulked beside her, trotting with his head down like he was in trouble. Technically he was, but this wasn't a punishment, yet he took it as one. "I'm supposed to be guarding _you_, not the other way around," she mused aloud. "Well, it has mutual benefits, I guess."

They made their way through the orchard, venturing to unknown places. Everywhere looked well organized and tidy. However, for some reason, the first thing that came to her mind was not how delicious the apples and the other fruits would be, but how costly this would've been. To manage an orchard this size and also a mansion, the housekeeping must've been already a fortune.

Her mind was still reeling in on the fact that they were staying at the Rodriguez's, and just taking from them. While Christian assured her that they had no ulterior motives, but she couldn't help but question why would someone do so willingly. They were rich like the Rockefellers, sure, but it was in millions, what they had spent on them.

_There must be something that they were expecting in return._

She knew she didn't understand business transactions but she just couldn't fathom how could Christian's consultancy be so pricy? There was no way José senior could prepay all of the help that he could offer to his son in the future. Unless his son was really dumb with no knowledge whatsoever regarding the business venture.

There had to be a catch in this. It shouldn't be a win-win for Christian.

Why was he acting so dense though? She knew Christian wouldn't have accepted all this if there wasn't anything promising. Then again, if they were doing this for her, were they expecting her to drop more of what she had been doing at a moment's notice just to be at their beck and call?

She did that once and missed Christian's birthday, and she knew she wouldn't be missing anything important in the future just to do someone a favor.

"What are you worrying about now?"

Her head snapped up just in time to see Taco jumping onto Christian, as if he was tattling on her and saying that she had been grounding him for the past ten minutes while he was gone.

"Nothing," she smiled but he saw right through that fake mask.

"Sure, it's no-" the pooch took advantage of his eye roll and attacked him again, this time successfully licking him on the chin, then all over the face with one huge slurp.

"He's eating you like ice cream."

"He doesn't eat ice cream like that!" Christian nearly screamed when Taco got even more exited at Anastasia's giggles, taking them falsely as encouragement and firmly planed his paws on his shoulders once again, so he could stand on his tippy hind paws and reach his face. "Your nose is freezing cold, Tucks!"

Anastasia laughed as she watched her boyfriend fight off the gigantic dog.

"Your face is going to turn into an ice rink," she declared through fits of giggles completely forgotten about the little boy Taco had scared only fifteen minutes ago.

"Okay, that's enough," he pinned Taco down on to the floor by the shoulder blades while using his other sleeve to wipe off the drool. "Jesus, Tucks," he glared at his own puppy. Taco, as usual, believed that they were going to forgive and forget about all of his misdemeanors the moment they turned away from him. He sat there waiting for Christian to remove his hand so he could start roaming around again like nothing had happened.

"Everything okay inside?"

"Yeah, I did get an earful about not training the dog," he held out his hand and started to list it off counting with his fingers. "Taking him off the leash; not getting him a mask… blah blah blah."

"He's at home though…" that was her only argument. "Though, we should've kept an eye on him since I have no idea how he got in."

"I think my grandma called him in for a snack or something, or my grandpa let him in thinking he might be cold in the snow bare feet?"

"He's sweating right now!"

"You know how Tucks can be in front of strangers. He'd never look at us that way only at the food in our hands."

"Okay, he should've been better trained but all dogs love food and he thinks the little boy is playing with him. What about the mom?"

"The mom is okay after some soothing and consolation from my grandparents. She is like a distant cousin of mine."

"And, she's already got a kid?"

"That's his second one, I think."

"Damn, people reproduce _fast_," she whistled, and subsequently shuddered at the thought of her having a baby. She didn't want that now, not in the near future, but perhaps the very distant future. Her job, Taco and Christian were already a handful for her, she didn't need a kid in the mix.

Though, she didn't know what Christian's thought on this was. She was only hoping that he didn't bring it up before they settle on a permanent settlement.

"Do you want kids?"

_Fuck._

"Let's not think about this, yeah?"

"Well, I just want to know where you stand."

She sighed. She hated this topic of discussion, she'd rather not have this conversation _ever_. Until they were a bit more settled.

"No."

"No?"

"What, you want them?"

"Well… I thought it'd be nice…"

"Like when?"

"A few years."

"In a _few years_?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Don't brush me off. You did that once and I let that go, you're not doing it again."

And, now she wished she didn't before so she could use that chance here. She'd rather talk about Rodriguez.

"Let's just take it one step at a time. Kids aren't a good thing to add to the mix. For one, they need stability, and that's not what we have right now."

"Okay, let's not talk about it right now," he dropped his head sensing the change in her mood and her tone was less than friendly earlier and he knew if he pushed just one more question, she'd snap at him.

"Do you think we should reevaluate the whole situation with the Rodriguez family?"

"Maybe we can consult Theo? He's a business lawyer. Was, before he retired."

"You think he can help?"

"We can always try. I mean, he did find Burt Whitmore for me."

"Oh!"

…

"That family isn't cunning but they're not exactly as friendly as you think."

"We know that they want something from us," Christian explained after briefing his grandfather about the situation they were in. He did think that he might be tricked by senior from time to time but he convinced himself every time that it was only an investment for the old man. Though, if Anastasia's intuition was bugging her for such a long time, then he should probably reconsider.

"But you don't know what. You shouldn't be so bold and agree to something like this. If this goes on especially now that you're renting their house, you might be in more debt than money can repay."

"He's going to ask me favors."

"Yes, but how many is evening out between the two of you?"

Anastasia nodded, that was exactly what she had been worried about. She didn't know how Christian could've seen the situation as some simple transaction. She wasn't going to blame him though because he had been really busy lately, and there really wasn't much time for him to worry about something that didn't warrant his attention.

Christian silently brewed over the question. It was a crucial one.

"I don't think being in business with the Rodriguez family is a bad thing, in fact, it's going to be beneficial to have him by your side in the business venture and have him as your friend. But, I do strongly advice you to move out of his apartment."

"Why?"

"That transaction brings you to a much different level of friendship. It's no longer just business but more personal."

"I am paying him rent."

"He's leasing you an _apartment_ not an office building."

"So, he expects Christian to be his people, as in his puppet in some occasion?"

"Yes," Theo nodded at Anastasia. This woman had more business mindset than she gave herself credit for.

"We can move back to Escala," she suggested to Christian.

"No," he vetoed that sharply. "It has too many ghosts."

"We can live with it… temporarily. I mean, ghosts are just what we imagined."

"I have a condo in Escala. If you don't want to return to the penthouse, you can stay at that condominium. It's currently empty." Theo offered, understanding the situation the couple was currently in. He only wished his grandson would reached out to him sooner. He had always been there watching the growth of this copper-haired boy, following his career and his successes.

He, for one, was disappointed in Grace for her lack of support; but he refrained from interfering.

"I'll rent it to you if you insist on paying it, but I can also just lease it to you rent free."

"We'll pay rent," Anastasia hated the idea of receiving something for free, it was like taking advantage of them.

Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Theo went to open it, and in rushed Taco with a familiar girl following behind.

She was the wannabe cousin.

"Oh!" She and Anastasia gasped in unison.

"It's good to see you again." Being the older one in between the two, Anastasia held out her hand and took a step forward toward the girl who appeared much older and more mature than she remembered, which forced her to swallow back the snarky question about the boyfriend.

"Good to see you, too," the girl muttered. She appeared to be in her early twenties, probably just graduated college or about to within a year or two.

The four years sure had a profound change in everyone.

"Um…" she was suddenly all shy in front of her family or probably because when she saw Anastasia, she was reminded of their outing on the Fourth of July in 2012. That was when she was still an immature spoiled brat.

Everyone waited patiently as she fiddled with a pen in her hand and a notebook now clutched tightly against her chest. Reluctantly, she unfolded her hand and handed them the notebook, while she produced sticky note.

Christian took the offered notebook and Anastasia kept staring at her expectantly but with a polite expression and an encouraging smile.

"I'm currently in the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park."

"You're in New York?" Anastasia blurted out, spontaneously revealing her strong desire to return to the East Coast. Christian tried not to read too much into the outburst but his gut told him that when he promised two years in Seattle, he would probably have to plan a move across the country in the near future.

"Yes," the girl seemed to relax a little, but she was still clearly embarrassed by her behavior four years ago and remembered the chastisement from this particular brunette woman. "I am cooking you all lunch, as part of my practice before my mid-term. So, in your hands is my menu."

"We can pick out anything we want from here?"

"Yes. It's single serving."

Christian opened the book to see a full page of listed dishes with pictures attached. Anastasia reached forward to flip through the pages to see that she had taken up half of the book with her courses.

"Do you realize that you're talking to the two best cooks in this household right now?" Theo rounded the table, leaving the information of his condo on his desk so he wouldn't forget.

The girl visibly sweated and paled.

"Stop making her even more nervous," Christian admonished his grandfather. "And, I cook better than Ana."

"Oh, right, she bakes," Theo beamed in remembrance of the snacks that he had once tasted at some functions years ago.

The cousin blanched even more.

"Theo, you really should stop," Christian scolded sternly, glaring at his grandfather but as soon as his back was turned, he cracked up.

"Oh, there's dessert!" Anastasia clapped in glee when she flipped to the last page after the both of them ordered their main course.

The confidence in the young girl was already waning with the comment Theo made earlier about how the couple cook the best food and snacks.

"Is this the French style or Greek?" Anastasia pointed to a picture on the page and asked.

"Uh… I use Greek yogurt."

"I mean the cheese," she now knew that pastry probably wasn't the girl's forte.

"French."

"You should try this, Christian." Anastasia decided.

"Okay, I'll have this." He conceded and the girl noted it down.

"And, I'll have the soufflé," she ordered. "Thank you!" She handed the menu book back to the girl whom she still didn't know the name of. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Cathy."

Said girl bolted out of the door before Anastasia could properly thank her for making all of them lunch.

Theo's chuckle brought the both of them out of their daze.

"You two sure know how to scare young girls out of the room."

"I- I didn't do anything!" She defended.

"You did something four years ago," Christian snickered.

"I was just fed up with her spoiled attitude. Girl has the cheek to ask me if I was a virgin? Good god, do I look like one?"

"Beautiful girl like you surely has a string of admirers," Theo stepped forward, grabbing both of her arms at arms' length and looked at her. "You truly are beautiful."

"_Grandpa_," Christian warned.

"We can share right?"

Anastasia nearly fainted at that idea.

"Uh, no?" She spoke hoping to be heard.

"When I say my girl, I mean _MY_ girl," Christian emphasized. "If this is what you're taking from me, then I'm not even going to take your condo, not even rent free."

Theo barked out laughing, covering up the rhythmic percussion from the sound of Taco's tail hitting the door repeatedly. They had all missed this giant pooch and thought he had followed Cathy out into the kitchen, his favorite place.

"He wants to go out," Theo said, pointing at the canine.

"I think it's better if he stays here," Christian took a seat and ignored the hound who was still whipping his tail against the door, probably denting it. "Just in case you suggest something about _my_ girl."

"What, so you can release him on me?" Theo laughed wholeheartedly. "Oh, please, he doesn't care about the two of you."

The truth in that was enough to make the entire room cackle.

"I think he better go before he destroys the office," Anastasia suggested rationally speaking.

"I think this office needs a little more fur, don't you think? To keep my grandpa Theo warm," Christian jested cheekily.

"He's going out," Theo decided, shooting up from his chair and yanking the door open with the help of Taco's eager paw. The dog sprinted out of the room and straight for the kitchen, not even noticing the little boy who let out another cry when Taco nearly knocked him off again. Then, then there was a yelp from Taco that got his owners' attention.

"We'll talk tomorrow," Christian told his grandpa. "We'll come over tomorrow for brunch if you have that."

Theo chuckled.

"Go check out your beloved puppy," he patted his grandson on the back and followed him out of the office, closing his door behind him.

"He looks fine," Anastasia observed when they all arrived at the kitchen where they found Taco sitting next to the kitchen counter looking all serious. His eyes focused solely on Cathy's hands that was rolling the dough.

…

Christian woke up with the sweet memories of their love making from yesterday night. He still didn't get enough of her, but after four orgasms, she fell asleep on him.

He needed to work on getting her stamina rebuild to her previous level.

The alarm hadn't sounded yet but it should have according to the time displayed on the digital clock. He was certain that he had set the alarm early just so they could get a few rounds of sex in before they leave for his grandparents for brunch.

_Someone must've changed it._

He smirked, glancing at the sleeping figure spooned in his arms cocooned from the daylight escaping through the blinds; it was another cloudy day.

_How dare she choose sleep over sex._

He mused quietly and lined his morning wood at her entrance. A hand wandered down her front rubbing over her folds—she was dripping, as always.

The smile on his face grew wider. He gently removed his arm from beneath her head and propped himself up on his elbow. He leaned over to see that she wasn't even stirring after those huge adjustments. He chuckled softly, brushing away the hair revealing the side of her face.

He ground his hips slightly so that his tip was encircling her folds, just one step from penetrating her. He hovered over her shoulder with an arm around on her stomach holding her back against his front.

A small and the softest moan escaped her and her lips parted slightly. He grinned in utter satisfaction. Leaning down, his lips captured hers in a kiss. Taking full advantage of her parted lips he pushed his tongue inside seeking for hers. It was as if he had prodded the beast awake with the way her tongue was battling his.

"Can I have you again?" He asked but the tip of his dick was slowly sliding past her folds, she was so wet that it was as if lubrication was made to be a joke.

"Yes," she gasped as she felt the intrusion when he filled her in one swift motion. She had a contract bidding this afternoon for a new machine for her department and she knew she already had have trouble sitting down after last night, now she knew that she would hate to even walk. It also didn't help that she had a meeting after the bidding so she had to endure a two way long drive.

"Stop worrying about shit," he thrusted into her as he collected her into his arms, securing her against his body as his cock assaulted her pussy and his hands played with her breasts.

Anastasia moaned out a breathy version of his name, she was building fast and he knew that as he fastened his pace. She could feel her entire body shaking, unsure whether it was due to his rapid pounding or her impending orgasm, but she was a goner the minute his fingers pressed on her clit.

"Christian!" She whimpered when he pulled out mid-orgasm and flipped her onto her back before plunging into her once more. "Ah!" She cried out at the unexpected contact. Everything down south was experiencing sensory overload at the moment for her right now, but there was nothing she could do as waves of pleasure washed over her repeatedly.

His merciless speed left her no choice but to absorb all the pleasure as his balls slapped against her bare cunt. She wanted to claw his ass, scratch his ass, but her hands were intertwined with his and pinned next to her head.

"Yes, baby," he chanted, his face inches from hers as he watched her.

Anastasia mewled, her eyes rolling to the back of her head involuntarily.

"Squeeze me harder, baby," he roughly sucked on her tits, then kissed upwards to her lips where he ruthlessly attacked her lips until they were bruised and swollen.

Her legs felt like jello and she didn't even know if her toes were curling when this impending orgasm would certainly be earth shattering for her.

"Give it to me." Christian buried his face into the crook of her neck, breathing in her unique sweaty scent that was the evidence of their love making. His nose trailed the side of her neck searching for the spot that would throw her over the edge.

"Christian!" She unleashed her cries the moment he bit down on that very spot which seemed to be connected to her core.

She clenched down onto him violently, drowning him in her juice. She faintly registered his telltale grunts and quickened pace before she felt him shoot his load inside of her.

He collapsed on top of her but quickly rolled them over so they were on their sides. He stared at her and watched her chest rise and fall with immense pride and contentment.

"I can't believe you changed the alarm," he flicked her nose with his wickedly.

"I need to rest," she whined. "I've got two meetings this afternoon, remember? Which means two super long commute. Now I don't even think I can walk, and you're still inside of me."

"Are you complaining now? I didn't hear that earlier."

He moved to pull out when she winced.

"Did I hurt you?" He halted alarmed. She shook her head. "Sore?" He smirked, getting up for a warm cloth from the bathroom to clean her.

…

"Call me when you're done with your last meeting, I'm picking you up. We're going out tonight. It's still part of Christmas."

She stared at him and his hopeful eyes, there was no way she could turn down this youthful boy.

"Okay," she leaned over pecking his lips before opening the door to get to the meeting place.

* * *

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your family!  
**[December 25, 2019]

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	53. Looming In The Dark

**_Looming in the Dark_**

BOXING DAY 2016

The past two days couldn't been more perfect for Christian, and after he dropped her off at her meeting place with the promise from her to be careful, he drove off to meet his grandfather. He was going to discuss more about the housing arrangements and the Rodriguez a little bit more.

For one, he was over the moon that she had finally decided that it was time to end both of their misery. He felt closer to her than ever, and not just physically.

However, now sitting in the car at the front door of the conference arena where Anastasia said to pick her up from, he wondered why was she working on a holiday, and why was anyone working on that day.

He was also anxious to see her reaction to where he was taking her. He wasn't sure if she'd receive it well when she arrived at the GEH Christmas party after having a late lunch, however he was going to risk it because they had been doing so well together in the past few days, and he thought they were at the stage where he could be more daring.

He hated walking on eggshells around her, and that was practically what he had become gradually for months before he dragged her to see John. It was either her way or no way, and there was nothing he could say or do to go against her because he feared that she wouldn't want to deal with his ass any longer if he went against her. She was also under a lot of stress, too, so he didn't want to add to it.

That probably did more worse than good.

"Hi," the door was yanked opened abruptly accompanied by a sweet, cheerful voice and followed by the sound of the door slamming shut.

"Hey," he leaned over, puckering his lips shamelessly asking for a proper greeting.

She obliged giggly. Grabbing his head so it stayed in place as she moved her lips against his.

"Hey you," she laughed as he stretched his neck after being craned in such an awkward position for pleasure.

"How'd the meetings go?"

"Great! I got a thousand dollars, in cash," she waved the wad of cash in the air. It was ironic how she was sitting in a Jaguar XJ that costed over a hundred thousand, and considered as one of the most expensive and luxurious sedans, but was giddy over a thousand dollars.

"Do I get half of it like usual?" He jested, already giving up on trying to persuade her for going to those auctions, because accepting those cash would be considered as a kind of bribery on technical terms.

She narrowed her eyes at him but still took out five-hundred and stuffed them in his chest pocket, patting them as if to secure it in its place.

"Thank you, honey," he jibed sweetly. "Why do you even have meetings at the end of the year, and don't those people have families to return to or something?"

"This usually doesn't happen, but they have some kind of sales goal that they need to achieve."

He knew exactly what she was referring to because his company also had quarterly goals, and they were always on top of it, but that still didn't make him feel any better for having to be separated from her on a holiday just so she could work. They honestly didn't need this extra thousand dollar cash.

"Two auctions and only a thousand?" He joked.

"Well, I got three hundred for a signature earlier in the first meeting. It wasn't an auction, I just had to sign something."

"Your signatures are expensive."

"Yours worth even more, Mr Grey."

He grinned, revealing his perfect white teeth.

"So, where are we going? You're all dressed up, are you sure I'm in an appropriate attire?"

"You can change if you want to, but I think you're good enough… to eat," he smirked at her wickedly.

"Change?" She stared at him crazy and studiously dismissed the innuendo. He had definitely returned to his old insatiable self after Christmas Eve, and honestly, she still hadn't really recovered from the activities merely hours ago this morning, and yesterday morning as well yesterday night.

She swore the moment she freed her mind, he charged at her. Then, he'd take any chance to strip her naked whenever they were alone behind closed doors. He never rested.

"I brought you a formal dress," he nudged his chin at the bag sitting on the backseat that she hadn't realized earlier.

"I need a formal dress for it? Where the heck are we going? Don't tell me it's another function, because I'm going to strangle you alive."

"Strangle me alive," he laughed, shaking his head. "No, we're not going to any events, just to this newly opened restaurant."

"You own it or you're planning on buying it?"

"Why, woman? Why do you always assume that I've got an ulterior motive when I was simply invited to the grand opening. The chef's an associate."

"You did that the last time you went to The Mile High with me."

"That was four years ago, where I do have spare cash in my hands."

"You don't have now?"

"Well…"

"Yeah, that's what I thought. You're still filthy rich you know?"

"You're actually dating a legit millionaire."

"How legit?" She humored.

"We're worth more than half a billion, baby." He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it tenderly, and placed it on his lap.

"Half a bil? When?"

He smirked at her secretively.

"Just before Christmas," he told her, feeling incredibly proud at her gaping mouth. He had impressed her, that was for sure, which was the reason why they were having some extra budget to put into this year's Christmas party; much to Andrea's delight.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought I'd wait a bit."

"Till when?"

He shrugged. He honestly didn't have any idea when he was planning on telling her. "Yesterday? On Christmas?"

She snorted unladylike and crossed her arms in front of her defiantly, making him chuckle.

"It made the news, actually," he revealed figuring that with all the time he kept her in bed, naked and sated lately, she wouldn't even think about connecting with the outside world.

She huffed, feigned anger and crossed her arms even tighter. He laughed softly, reaching over to pull her arms apart and grabbed her hand to place it back on his lap after pecking the back of it.

"You're the majority shareholder, remember. So, you're richer than I am now."

That still kind of bugged her but she didn't know how to voice that without getting shunned by Christian. He would always sweet talk himself out of this topic whenever she brought it up, so now she was avoiding it.

…

It was indeed extravagant as they stepped into the GEH lobby. She could barely recognize that underneath the green and red decoration was the cold, clinical office place that her boyfriend worked at.

"They really went out of their way this time," he chuckled at her awestruck face and she lollingly leaned into his side.

She was already beyond impressed when they dined in the fancy restaurant earlier, and she felt so out of place in her work clothes that she'd willingly gone through the trouble to change in the tiny toilet stall.

They were greeted politely and hugged, and she felt like she had instantly became a mascot overnight with the way people were gushing at her, complimenting her, and fawning over her. She wasn't sure if they were doing it for their own benefit to get into Christian's good grace, or they were actually trying to socialize with her. Then she remembered the last time she showed up here, and that prompted her to put on her best smile because she really needed to thank them.

Those in attendance were the ones that actually stood by her and her man when he was at his darkest time, had faith in him, supported him, and continued to have faith in him; they had invested their time and energy in this company, which was a reassurance for Christian's leadership ability.

"Theo might show up for an hour or two to see Burt, and some of my executives."

"Your grandfather?" She shuddered unconsciously at the greeting she had received yesterday, she was only hoping that the old man would rein it in a little in public.

"He is a lawyer with connections," he bragged. "Many of my executives and managers came from powerful families, and their spouses are sometimes a huge deal in some ventures."

"And they'd show up for this?"

"They'd show up for any GEH events. We always invite families of significant standings, and the plus ones will always be vetted."

"Is there something like this in New York?"

"No," he kissed her temple laughing at her. "We don't have enough money, besides, Seattle is still the headquarters for now."

"For now?"

"Yes, for now. I told you, two years, and we can move anywhere you want."

"Does it have to be within the States?"

He pulled away and eyed her curiously. "You want to move out of the country?"

"I don't know where I want to move, or even if I'd still want to move after two years, but I just want to prepare you in case I come up with some crazy ideas."

"You know, I can always veto whatever crazy shit you come up with, right?"

She shrugged noncommittally. "You said two years and I get to decide," she pouted petulantly at him, unaware of the whispers and stares they were currently receiving. As much as the boss had changed for the better and brighter in personality, it was still very uncommon for them to witness how the man at the realm behaved with his queen.

Discretely, he spied a cameraman moving about and he was aware that he was the center of the shoot. He knew it would only take a very short amount of time before she realized that someone was following them around with a big-ass machine on their shoulder.

He caught Sam's eyes and gave him an approving nod subtly. Anastasia caught sight of the exchange just in time, so Sam sauntered over playing it off like he had been summoned. He did have something to discuss with them anyway.

"Ana, it's so good to see you again," he pulled her into a courteous hug that Christian seemed none too pleased about. "You look beautiful," he praised sincerely and released her remembering that not only was his boss jealous but also extremely possessive.

"Thank you," she shifted in Christian's uncomfortably.

"You look ravishing, baby," her boyfriend leaned in and reassured her quietly. He was now relaxed after sensing that she had no objection in mingling with his colleagues.

Sam was still beaming at the couple, looking radiant with positivity, so Anastasia composed herself gradually becoming very self-conscious and self-aware of the fact that she might've lost a significant amount of weight recently because the dress wasn't hugging her subtly curves like when she bought them. Though, Christian hadn't said anything about her thinning figure, he did try to fatten her up here and there by continuously stuffing her with food, and piling on her plate.

"Mr Grey," Sam spoke, catching the couple's attention. "I know it's an inappropriate time to talk business right now, so forgive me for bringing up work." His eyes darted to their side and that was when Anastasia noticed a camera focused on them this entire time. She had seen it but didn't give it too much attention, thinking it was just to capture the extravagance for future propaganda or something to do with marketing and documenting the company history.

The couple returned their attention to Sam—Christian with expectancy and Anastasia with curiosity.

"A few months ago, I brought up the suggestion of filming a documentary to record the transition phase of this company and Mr Grey. It was filmed but not been made into anything at the moment only stored in the files."

"I thought you said no to it," she turned to her boyfriend confused, now finally putting the pieces together.

"I said no to rushing it for the sole purpose to build my reputation, but I think in the long-run, this film might be in our favor. This is a transition period in our life, given all that we've been through and publicized."

Anastasia was still staring at her boyfriend with an unreadable look that was a mixture of a ton of conflicting emotions. He stopped talking because his reasoning was clearly not convincing enough for her.

"Are you nuts, Grey? Did you get your head bashed on the toilet or something?" She fired off the questions at him, completely forgetting that they had audiences momentarily. She observed him, and he looked unfazed by her tone, so hers changed, too. "You seriously want to make a documentary?"

"It is very unlike me, I know, but you also know that we are starting over, so we need to put ourselves out there. At least _I_ have to, and maybe not completely returning my aloof and almighty self all the time can help me in some negotiations and dealing with different people."

"So, you want this to be some kind of propaganda just to show the public that you have fifty shades reserved for different occasions?"

Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head. He nodded, deciding to keep the thought to himself for now.

"Okay," she accepted the logic, then returning her focus to Sam, who appeared highly amused to actually witness his hardcore boss having to explain his decision to his woman and actually reason with her. Other than Christian's personal staff, his employees in the office were still under the impression that he didn't report to anyone. "So, what exactly does the plan look like? How long do you plan to spend on this project? What is the content? What exactly is this going to achieve?"

Christian couldn't help but admire how she took charge and immediately rattled out critical question that needed to be considered in the overall plans. If he wasn't at a public event, much less his own company's event, he'd be taking her to the nearest corner and fuck her senseless. He just knew that she would thrive in her career as the executive. The authority made a good call for promoting her because she was born to lead and not follow. That revelation also made his heart simmer with warmth and pride that he had made the right decision to let her take over his empire and keeping the majority share.

"We will set up a meeting after the new year to settle every detail," Christian suggested. He really just wanted her approval and support, which he received, because he was ready to destroy all the footage that he had planned for the documentary if she was really against the idea.

A flurry of blonde whirled past them almost knocking Anastasia off of her feet if Christian wasn't by her side steadying her. He lifted his gray orbs and met Taylor's in a steel gaze. The latter nodded at the boss with a grim face and pressed on his ear piece listening to a report from Sawyer.

Sam excused himself from the couple after sensing the tension creeping into the atmosphere around them, and the way his face darkened all of a sudden, the way his lips pressed together in a thin line, Sam knew someone had dropped the ball somewhere to offend the duo.

"It's one of them, Christian," Anastasia's eyes followed in the direction the rude woman went and instantly recognized the familiar shake of the body as she walked; it was the same view of a blonde's back as one of the three that stalked her.

Christian was right, the girls could change their physical appearances by cutting up the cheek bone or the eye lids, but there were just those fine subtle details that no one seemed to notice that would give them away.

"Sawyer is already after the case," Taylor reported, briefly meeting up with them. "It seems like she has purposefully led him to a designated spot."

"Is any attendee aware of this breach yet?" Christian checked and was relieved when Taylor's response came back negative.

"Steele!" Anastasia was nearly knocked off the second time when another blonde barreled toward her. "I'm late, sorry," the blonde hugged the brunette while throwing the words carelessly to the man behind her best friend.

Taylor and Christian exchanged a few more words before he left.

"I was going to tell you I have a surprise for you, but I got caught up so the timing was a tad bit off," Christian simpered at Anastasia, giving Kate a simple curt nod.

"You're in Seattle? When did you get back?"

"Your boyfriend invited me, so I made my way over as soon as I finished shopping. My assignment has been a pain in the ass, and guess what, I have to return to it after the new year…" and the girls started to catch up, both sharing their busy months. Kate had been all over the States following the footsteps of the Greys.

Christian lingered for a moment before getting dragged away by Ros and Gwen before he could start eavesdropping, because from the pensive look on Anastasia's face, he got concerned.

"I have to ask you something, Ana," Kate lowered her voice considerably and her tone suddenly turned mysterious. "I don't want to go to your boyfriend with this, so I'm hoping you can help."

"You want me to ask him?"

"No, but it might help. It really depends on you. I don't want to put either of you at a difficult position, so if you want to bring it up to him then do it. Just keep it discrete."

"I will. He won't be saying anything to anyone, trust me," Anastasia assured, leaving out the part about how her boyfriend had actually cut off his family, and also the part where she wanted to help mend his relationship with his siblings by encourage interactions between them.

Kate took a sip of her drink from her champaign flute and glanced around. "Is it true that his parents went off to Detroit to chase Isaac?"

Her friend's breathed hitched as she stared back at the blonde who just asked the question. The friend, too, glanced around wary that her boyfriend might show up to interject.

"To simply put it, yes, but Kate, you have to keep in mind that I don't like his parents so anything that came from me cannot possibly be neutral. I am extremely biased when it comes to them, I'll admit it outright. But, where did you hear that from?"

"My parents were talking about it, they heard it from some event that they've attended. I asked them about Coping Together saying it's my assignment to write about the _legacy_ of the Grey family since you know, they left the state. I have to actually interview them."

"More like they scurried away with their tails in between their legs." Anastasia grimaced at the thought of having to see them again.

Kate snorted, "that's definitely going off the record."

Anastasia rolled her eyes.

"But, let's not talk about work. Stand up, hon," she ordered her friend who hopped off of the stool staring at the blonde over the rim of her wine glass. "Spin around… damn girl!"

"What?" Anastasia shuffled back to the bar and hissed at her. She was after all a huge deal at this party since she was the girlfriend of the owner, or technically, the owner of this company.

"This is the new dress you bought in New York."

"Yeah, it is. Christian picked it out for me."

"Your man is good at this shit. Damn, never thought I'd see the day."

"What?"

Kate was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"You, settling down with a man after your own heart."

"With the way I was so adamantly trying to establish my own profile in the medical field, you'd think I'd be old and gray with a bunch of pills."

The both of them snorted in unison, which made them giggle then turned into full-blown laughter with their heads thrown back.

They continued to talk and drink champaign, and then proceeded to mingle around. Kate soon told her that she had to leave soon because she promised to have dinner with Ethan at home. So, she left her at Christian's side who had been talking to Burt and Theo at the time.

She had been privy more company secrets than what was considered socially acceptable for someone still with in the girlfriend status. However, from the way everyone gushed and behaved around them, she got the impression that there weren't any ill feelings toward her when she took charge six months ago.

The party ended on a high note with a toast from the boss, and for once, she enjoyed this party.

…

Taylor opened the door to the backseat as Christian roused Anastasia from her nap. She had managed to fall asleep.

"We're here," he whispered in her ear and nudged her shoulders.

"What?" She lazily blinked open her eyes and scanned around slightly disoriented. Her eyes grew bigger when she noticed that they weren't parked before the building that she had grown accustomed to. "Why are we here?" Her eyes were immediately drawn to the vast amount of glass that made up this building.

There was no mistake where they were.

_ESCALA_

"I want to show you something."

They piled out of the car and walked into the building that they just exited not two days ago, where they went through yet another unpleasant and possibly mildly traumatic experience. And just the thought of what happened the last time they were here made her hand sweat.

"Hey," he tugged on their intertwined hand, slowly becoming aware that if he didn't grasp on hers it might slip from his hands. "Don't fret, okay? It's going to be alright."

She peered at him wondering why was he being so cryptic, then her eyes followed his hand as they reached for a single button on the panel and not for the keypad at the top of it.

"Are we visiting someone?"

"We are visiting, yes, but not someone."

She narrowed her eyes at him, now relaxed and curious. She was partly scolding him for acting so mysterious but also liking this playful side of him.

The elevator stopped on the twenty-ninth floor, just one floor beneath the penthouse unit which took up the highest two floors.

"You know the building we live in right now is also owned by the same real estate group?"

She shrugged carelessly, unaware of the fact but also not wanting to be aware of it.

"Who's condo is this?" She asked as he unlocked the door to reveal a private foyer. She noticed another door oddly out of place on the adjacent wall of in the vestibule, so she reached up to touch the doorknob debating whether to twist it.

"That one is currently rented out on a short term. We can have it too in a few months."

"We?"

"This is the apartment that my grandpa is talking about yesterday."

"This? You call it an apartment? This and that," she pointed to the connecting door. "Combined is the first floor of your penthouse."

"Yeah, so it's so much smaller than what we used to have, but then again," he shrugged. "I'm sure you won't want to go back upstairs."

"Not really…" she assented. "What are you going to do about it then?"

"Sell it, or rent it."

"Renting sounds more profitable."

Christian eyed her amusingly.

"Don't laugh at me, Grey. I like money okay?"

"I just like you and only you."

"Smooth, Christian, but now's not the time."

"When is it the time then, love?" He wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and rested his chin on her shoulder, so their cheeks touched.

She shrugged, purposely bopping his head as it moved along with her shoulder.

"Do you like this place though?"

"I have a feeling that you've already signed the paperwork, so I'll just say, when are we moving in?"

He nuzzled his nose in her neck to hide his face for being called out.

"You did didn't you?"

"I did," he admitted.

"What's the rate that we're paying?"

"We own it."

"What?" She spun out of his grasp but was quickly pulled back in.

"My grandfather gifted it to me but he said if we want the one next door we'd have to earn it and buy it from him."

"Gift for what?"

"Our engagement."

She took a step back and his arms dropped subsequently. Her heart stopped. She studied him intently, her eyes boring into his.

"You just made that up on the spot didn't you?" Humor danced in her eyes but she sounded like she was dead serious.

"I truly don't have a ring with me right now."

"Nor did you buy one."

"I have a design that has yet to be submitted to Cartier," he confessed.

She continued to stare, bemused.

"Okay, I'll admit, this did come out in a spur of a moment, but if I do ask, what will be your answer."

"I'd say yes now even if you don't have my ring and aren't on your knee."

"You want the show?" He teased, raising a brow.

"Humor me," she dared.

He shook his head but couldn't contain that infectious smile on his face. He was aware that they were still in the foyer, but that was also fine.

He fiddled around his pocket and looked around when he located a slip of paper that the Taylor handed to him when he came back to report that Rebecca, Susannah, and Leila were all arrested for trespassing.

The blonde that bumped into Anastasia was Rebecca and she led the chasing Sawyer to a darkened area outside of the building where the rest of the two were. What exactly went down wasn't disclosed but the end result was their arrest.

Taking her left hand, he knelt to the floor. Then looked up at her humorously but kept from laughing. She was stifling her own giggle when he wrapped the slip of paper clumsily around her ring finger.

"Marry me, baby?" He asked holding the end of the paper together with his index finger pressed on it.

"Yes!" She played on cue and retracted her hand when he stood up. She was feeling super giddy at the moment. The paper ring fell to the ground. "Oh, my ring broke. Guess we're not engaged anymore," she giggled loudly almost making her snort.

"Shut the hell up, fiancée," he locked her in his arms, to prevent her trailing arms from getting hurt or hurting innocent people like him—well, he was the only other person in the place.

"Okay, liar, how did you persuade Theo to _gift _you the place?" She swayed them from side to side as they waddled together venturing deeper into the spacious area.

She liked it so much better than where she was currently living, and maybe that was solely because of the vibe or because of who the place belonged to; but she was starting to feel like the small apartment they were renting from José Sr. was somewhat dark. This place was so bright even though they were here at night.

"Liar? We are engaged whether you like it or not," he jested half seriously.

"Fine, we'll make it official and announce it once you get the ring."

And, that topic was effectively shelved.

"He offered. Theo offered to sign it over to me, and initially I declined it, but he insisted and he also said that it's important to have a place that feels like home. So, I took it, and that's when he said that if I really want to pay him for something, then I can buy the one next door as payment."

"Really?" Her eyes were widened now that she knew they weren't fooling around anymore like they did with the whole engagement thing that was meant to be serious.

_Well, forgive them for lacking the attitude because they've been strained for the entire year_.

"Are you going to buy it?"

"Do you want it?"

"Kinda…" she squeaked. "I don't like the idea of having some stranger living just a door away," she explained quickly even though it was completely unnecessary.

"Me too," he concurred, pecking her lips. "We'll buy it."

"Once we have money to spare," she added.

"Which will be very soon, trust me. The sooner we're out of the Rodriguez's radar, the better. Especially if we managed to get rid of the parasite—that's Junior—the better."

"But how?" They stood before the glass door that would lead them out onto the deck. It was too cold to step outside. "He's going to hold it over my head that I owe him because of how much he's spent trying to save me."

"I discovered something today, and that is Senior used his own money to bail me out."

"That's… he's so rich…" she stuttered.

He chortled, affectionately. His face found its way back to the crook her neck.

"When do you want to move in? We can do it anytime?"

"After the holidays?"

"Why?"

"You want to celebrate the new year here?"

"Sorta," he confessed rather sheepishly.

"Then let's do it tomorrow," she announced decisively. He had been doing everything her way for too long and she couldn't imagine how much he had to sacrifice, so she thought it was time to spoil him, too.

"Tomorrow? Really? Are you for real?" He beamed. "I love you so much!"

…

Christian hoisted her up against the shower wall behind her, and she soon found her back making contact with the cool glazed tiles. She gasped as the coolness penetrated her burning skin. He had managed to make her all hot and bothered in the short car ride back just to demonstrate his excitement.

"Wrap your arms and legs around me," he commanded, reaching up to take the handheld shower head as she complied. He adjusted the sprinkler so it was now shooting out water column with a much higher pressure.

He grinned erotically at her in response to her puzzled expression. His hand snaked behind her to pull her closer while the other held the sprinkler that was now aimed at her inner thigh. She arched her back to aid him and his lips latched onto her throat, enjoying the vibration when she moaned. His lips moved south and the water column moved closer to her core, which was desperately for some attention.

"_Oh_!" She yelped in surprise when the water shot through her folds and accurately struck her clit. His lips twisted upward into a smirk against her sternum, and he nuzzled even deeper into the trough between her breasts.

"_Ah_!" He chuckled when he felt her sagging at the increase in pleasure when he directed the water pressure to more sensitive places. He could no longer feel her legs squeezing his waist when he fully latched on her nipples, twirling them in his mouth, playing with them using his tongue, and grazing his teeth over them.

"_Please_!" She cried out beseechingly. "Christian," she hugged his head closer to her chest as he explored her pleasurable sex with the water and two fingers.

"I love you, Christian. Now, please, _fuck_ me!" She bit down on his shoulder to silent her screams as she rubbed her core against his shaft, trying to evade the water but at the same time wanting to meet it for a more intense ride.

He plunged himself into her. There was no way he could last any longer with the way she was grinding on his groin.

Setting an unbelievably fast pace, he hung up the sprinkler and directed it at her tits just for the added stimulation effect. It drove her insane and her head lolled back lost in the sensation.

…

In the Seattle Police Department, a man of status showed up. He looked lost, but he after filling out paperworks and talking to more people, he walked out with three women.

"Thank you, José," one said, kissing him on the cheek. "I know I can count on you."

"You know that I'm gay, right?"

"I don't mind being your beard," the woman giggled girlishly, attempting to snuggle with him but got brushed off.

"I honestly don't know why I bailed you three out," he sighed, glancing around the dark lantern-lit street of Seattle, he stopped in his tracks and halted the three women. "We're even now. You three kept me entertained, and consider this bail my tip. Goodbye."

With that final farewell, he walked off where a car stopped next to the sidewalk and picked him up.

He pulled out his phone and called someone whom he knew wouldn't pick up at this hour of the day, so he left her a message.

"Ana… listen, I'm sorry to intrude on your holiday, but can I ask for one last favor from you? My dad, he got sick. Came down with a cold, but Adam said it might be the flu so he's now in the hospital and his condition isn't looking up. Can you just come in tomorrow to meet up with Adam, please? I don't have any ulterior motive. If I did, they're all worthless now, because my father needs you. I got the message that you want to break the lease of the apartment that you are currently using. I've been trying my best to step in my father's place, so I've been reading his emails. I truly need your help, we can talk about any compensation you have in mind."

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**X**


	54. The Greys' Redemption

**_The Greys' Redemption_**

"This guy truly crumbled without his father," Anastasia commented to Christian after letting the voicemail play on speaker the next morning when they both didn't want to sleep any longer but also didn't feel like getting up for the day.

He had already took Taco out for their morning run, though with a shorter route. He came back to bed and watched her sleep, all the while debating whether to wake her up for some more rounds of sex as if they didn't have it every night and every morning since Christmas Eve.

He was insatiable again, but she looked too peaceful in her sleep so he let her go for now.

"See? I told you his manipulation really never goes beyond his father's realm. You've got nothing to worry about because the moment Senior dies, Junior is as good as gone."

She eyed him mutely, unable to make up her mind.

"Either way, we're moving. The lease can be broken without a fine because he needs you," he grinned at her smugly.

"Courtesy to me," she echoed. "I have to go though," she stared at him defeated. "Are you sure you can manage all the packing yourself? I don't know how long I will be, and we can always move tomorrow."

"No, let's do it today," he told her firmly. "I won't hire anyone but I might get Taylor and Sawyer to help."

She rolled her eyes at his cheeky remark, there was no way to convince him otherwise, so she relented.

He walked her to the door and kissed her goodbye.

"Take care. I love you."

She made the mistake of turning back and saw him leaning against the doorframe watching her, and she couldn't resist that smolder eyes that she turned back around, threw her arms around his neck and gave him a good smooch.

"I love you, baby," she winked and walked away, this time making it to the elevator without glancing back.

Once the door closed behind him, he turned to Taco who was wiggling his ass expectantly at him.

"Guess what, buddy? Mommy said yes! I really need to submit that ring design," he squatted down and scooped up a handful of fur on his neck and ruffled it messily, acting absolutely ignorant to the dog's growing irritation. "So, we're moving today, Tucks! You better start packing all of your collections or I will," he threatened the pooch in a singing voice and disappeared down the hall into the main bedroom to start packing.

Minutes later, his attention was absorbed by the sound of Taco's tail hitting the bed post in rapid succession, and he twisted his head to see him with his leash and collar in his mouth, cat-walking toward him triumphantly.

"You went out this morning, buddy, you're not going out anytime soon. We have to wait until Ana comes back, yeah?" He petted his head but the dog wasn't relenting, he pushed the leash and collar further into Christian's hand even though they both knew the dog wasn't going to actually give it to him. "Patience, Tucks," he chuckled and turned back to packing.

Taco sat down at the foot of the bed and watched, still with his outing gear in his mouth.

…

NEW YEAR'S DAY 2017

After four years, she had finally had ended the year on a high note as she wished, or at least one that made her heart content. Despite the hiccup six days ago regarding José Sr., the move to the new place and settling in had been a smooth sail.

"You're right," she mumbled against his bare chest, her fingers dancing atop of his pectorals and lightly scratching her nails on his skin. Her mind was racing a thousand miles a second now, and it had successfully blocked her from enjoying their post-coital bliss that he was clearly still basking in.

"Aren't I always?"

She smacked him on the chest briskly. "Always so arrogant and cocky."

"Well, maybe…" he said slowly, "maybe you're right some of the times," he conceded. "But, what am I right about this time?"

She swatted his chest again when she saw the wicked gleam in his eyes as he asked her to elaborate on her statement earlier.

"Stop hitting me!" He protested but that fell on deaf ears.

"You were right about Junior. He is boneless without his father."

"How's Senior?"

"He's in the ICU," she blew out a breath, recalling her meeting with Adam and the experiences in the hospital. "He came down with the flu," she revealed.

"Is he going to make it?" He knew there was no use beating around the bush, so he might as well just ask it outright.

"Honestly? I don't think so, but Adam and I can't show an ounce of negativity in front of patients. We didn't say anything, but all of his test results didn't come back too ideally."

"See, there's nothing to worry about."

"There is, actually. Senior talked yesterday, which hadn't occurred for a few days, according to the nurses in the ICU. When Adam and I went in yesterday on behalf of Junior since visiting hour is over, he said something to me."

He could hear the anxiety in her voice and feel her restless brain spinning on high speed.

"He said he wanted you to take over, as CEO."

"What?"

"I'm sure you are aware that Senior isn't so keen on letting the family legacy being passed down to his son's hand."

"He did give me that impression since we first met in New York. Is he conscious? Are you sure that he knows what he's talking about?"

"I've watched his brain activities with Adam, and we also shadowed him around per Junior's request as he gone through all of the tests, and we looked over the reports. His lungs are filled with fluid at the moment due to the flu so the infection quickly got to his lungs. His own organs are failing, but the transplant liver is still functioning…" she realized that she was rattling off the patient's medical condition, which was technically illegal and frankly, unnecessary at the moment. "Anyway, his brain is in perfectly normal condition, it's just his organs that are failing."

"During the meetings with me before he bought the remaining shares of my company, which are then signed to you, he explicitly expressed his interest in merging with me."

"You declined?"

"I didn't, but I also didn't accept it. I told him I'd consider it. It's part of the business transaction. He bought my company out of debt, and he's expecting me to be somewhat, if not fully, responsible for his company once he's considered ineligible to make decisions."

"He wants to hire you as his CEO, isn't that going to be conflicting?"

"Yes, because that means I'm going to have to choose between being the CEO of GEH or being the CEO of his entire stock. Unless I merge with him."

"If you don't, does that mean you didn't make good on your part of your deal?"

"To me, no, but it depends on how much you think you owe him. The deal we had was simple yet vague. He spent millions to essentially _buy_ my skills to later be utilized on his company."

"What are you thoughts now then?"

"To be honest," he confessed, lifting her chin to force her to look at him to grasp how serious he was right now. "I am thinking about accepting his deal."

"Merging with him?" She whispered, unable to believe what she was hearing. This man in front of her was the most stubborn yet ambitious man in the world, and she knew this merger would be like all the money in the world being handed to him on a silver pallet, and one of his motto was to earn everything by himself.

He nodded. "I'm just worried about Junior."

"What are you worried about?"

"Right now, he's the one with all the power."

"He's handling everything on behalf of Senior."

"He's going to spiral out of control if Senior dies, and he might become a man scorned. If that truly happens, I don't want to deal with all the drama."

"That's the con, what are the pros though?"

"The pros obviously outweighs all the negativity, but that one possibility is the one thing that I don't want to risk without a more thorough consideration. It could be prevented, but since I can't talk to Senior about it, I really am not sure what to think because I don't know Junior, at all."

"List the pros."

"We can move to the East Coast like you wanted; we can buy the apartment next door; we won't need to rent the penthouse out, we could just sell it because we've got enough money to last for an entire life even if we don't work. The list is endless, baby, because if I do take over Rodriguez's legacy, we'll rival Amazon overnight."

The idea of having endless money again was indeed appealing to her, and for a moment, she was tempted to encourage Christian to accept the deal.

"Junior is a ticking time-bomb," he sighed, his hands leaving her sides and rubbing his face.

"Other than his father's death, I think there will be one more thing that has the potential to tick him off. What if Senior changed his will and appointed you as the CEO or appointed you to take over, and he doesn't like that tad bit?"

Christian looked helpless at the moment, he truly couldn't think of a resolution in the meantime, but he was determined to find a solution very soon. The merger could mean giving back the life that Anastasia could've had if all of the drama didn't happen.

"He's going to go bat shit crazy," she finished.

"Who knows what he might come up with. He might just turn to the three crazy-ass women."

"Who?" She frowned in confusion.

"Did I not tell you that?"

"Tell me what?"

"You know that Leila, Susannah, and Rebecca—aka, the three stalkers—showed up at the GEH party right?"

"You told me that, and I think you also told me that they are arrested?"

"Yes, they were for trespassing. But, guess what, the very same night José Jr. called you, he went to the police station and bailed those women out. Rebecca apparently had been his escort for many social events, and had been planting ideas in his head."

"Is he following through with the plans?"

"He snapped out of it once he heard about the news of his father being wheeled into the ICU. I think that struck him hard."

"Who told you this?"

"I had a detective in the Seattle PD casually ask him a few questions."

"Never knew pretty boys like you can be so sly."

"You must be under the impression that pretty boys don't have brains," he snorted. She giggled, and something about the way he said the line prompted her to laugh even harder, making her snort like a pig.

Then, it turned into a laughing fit for the both of them, until Taco bursted through their door feeling that he had been missing out on the fun.

In their blissful bubble, every trouble seemed to be forgotten, and life was perfect again.

…

He never once mentioned the fact that she had thinned because he didn't want to bring up the stressful times, however that topic inevitably came up when they visited Dr Flynn's office the first day he returned back to work again. It was only a day after the New Year and Christian was still on holiday as well as Anastasia.

"How was your holidays?" John started the session with, and this time it was a formal one, as well as a trial one to see whether Anastasia required additional help from another therapist or continue the couple's therapy.

"As great as it can be for us," she chirped.

"I take it that you both enjoyed it from the tone of your voice, however your words are slightly worrying; but, only very slightly."

Christian scowled at his doctor for focusing on the details that were so small and fine. He thought he was supposed to be looking at the improvement and progress that his girl had made over the holidays.

However, Anastasia seemed to have caught on where the good doctor was heading toward.

"I honestly didn't think I'd have such a great experience given what had occurred this entire year. I genuinely thought I'd driven myself into depression or just simply be miserable for the holidays, then subsequently drive Christian mad."

"What changed?"

"I… de-stressed?"

Flynn had caught on the subtle pause and hesitation in her admission, and thus had a fair idea of what she was referring to.

"How so?" Still, he asked.

"In Christian's way?" She squeaked but soon composed herself. "We had sex," she unveiled. "It was something that I didn't know that I've missed. It's probably the one thing that's missing between the two of us for the past year."

"Stress can do a number to an individual, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and if it wasn't dealt with the rational way, people around you will suffer from collateral damage."

"I think Christian can speak from experience," Anastasia chuckled at the doctor.

"Yes, I can tell, but let's reflect on what you've been through."

"Well…" she recalled. "I've been worried about everything and nothing at all…" she rattled off and being a very cooperative patient. "I think I've also lost weight."

At that, Christian snorted.

"You'd be losing them anyway if you don't eat. Your weight fluctuation really is worrisome, Anastasia," he commented. "I've been telling her to get checked out since we met, but she just never did."

"Neglecting your own health isn't going to achieve anything. I'm sure you understand this, Ana," John raised an eyebrow at her forcing her to heed both of their advice.

…

Kate was led to a chartered car with a designated driver, she wasn't sure if this was supposed to be part of the assignment or just part of the treat from her boss, whom was trying his damn best to impress her.

She used to have a female boss but she was now on the same level as her former boss after getting a promotion; this assignment was her first since her level up. And now, their new boss was a male, who was young and had apparently taken the media by storm.

He was now determined to take Kate by the storm, and it wasn't helping Kate's case that he had made it somewhat public that it even ran in the office rumor mill. Thankfully she got sent away for this assignment, because if she didn't, she had no idea what she was going to endure in the office. Many editors and reporters were fans of her boss.

Nonetheless, that was the least of her issues. She really wasn't interested in her boss but more of what he could offer professionally.

The car gradually came to a stop before a house that appeared to be… slightly antiquated. Or more like a lack of refurnishing from the outside. She honestly expected to be greeted by a mansion, and was once again shocked at how the fall of a person could just happen like _that_—in a snap.

A European maid opened the door for her, and she was hit by the aroma of home baked snacks at once upon her entry. With the aid of the housekeeper, she shed her coat and involuntarily shivered but not because of the cold outdoor.

She scanned her surrounding and then at the help that was busying herself accommodating the guest, she got the feeling that this household could only actually afford one helping staff.

"Mr and Mrs Grey will be with you shortly," the maid said after placing a cup of hot coffee with sugar and cream on the plate next to it before her.

Kate thanked her, and offered a kind smile as she walked around the living room where she had been led to. It looked cozy and Christmasy, but it lacked a touch of warmth that stemmed from the bottom of one's heart. The kind that she had seen in the pictures that Anastasia had sent her of the new apartment in Escala a few days before the new year.

She took a sip of her coffee and set it down by the fireplace. There wasn't a family picture in sight, and she wondered if she had actually got the correct place. It wasn't the impression that she had, at least that wasn't what they were like in Anastasia's mouth before everything turned nasty.

The family were kindhearted people before all of the darkness got stirred up.

Her head followed her body as she spun around the room, observing the features as she waited for the hosts to join her. Her heart was pounding in her ribcage for unknown reasons. She was feeling the similar adrenaline rush that she'd always feel before an interview or a face-to-face investigation, but this time there was more to it.

A series of thunderous footsteps followed by a figure darting across the entrance of the living room attracted her attention, and then the front door was opened and then closed shut abruptly, an indication that whoever they were was definitely in a rush to get away from something. Then, a little while later, a young teenager about the age of sixteen or seventeen trudged over, repeating the trail that was just left behind by whoever that just darted past earlier. A lazy smirk on his face when he stopped suddenly at the door.

Kate stood there frozen, the way he was just standing there seemingly oblivious to her existence made her feel like she had been trespassing and intruding on a family. She steadied herself and told herself over and over again that she was here on a mission; it was for her job.

"I knew it," the boy muttered loudly, clearly wanting whoever was around to hear it.

Kate stilled, thoughts about whether to hide herself came rushing into her head and leaving like waves in the ocean washing the seashore. The boy shifted in his spot and appeared like he was going to move away, so she assumed that he didn't know about her.

Her breath hitched just when she was going to sag in relief as his eyes moved over to meet hers. She was sure she looked hideous right now, and she had no idea why she was so tense and felt so nervous like she was an amateur. She stared right back, unable to move a single muscle in her body, not even her eyelids to blink.

"You got an admirer, lady," his voice was barely audible but it traversed into her ears like he was whispering in her ears; they were loud and clear. He winked, then stuffed his hands inside his pockets lazily and trudged away.

"Holy fuck," she sagged against the fireplace next to where her still steaming coffee had been, having no idea what had just happened. Surely it was abnormal for her to feel this out of sorts for an in-house interview. It wasn't like this was her first time.

As if this was an exam for her, she wasn't given any time to compose herself when the hosts walked into the room led by the same housekeeper that tended her earlier. They were visibly older on the eyes at first glance, and the two of them gasped simultaneously in recognition.

"Katherine?"

…

The three of them were settled into the seats adjacent to each other. Carrick and Grace on the loveseat and Kate on the single armchair.

"I take that you are informed of an interview on this day from a New York Times' journalist regarding your charity foundation, Coping Together," she began, taking the rein of the conversation after exchanging a few superficial but courteous greetings with the couple.

She had left out any words that would directly suggest that she knew them on a personal level because this interview would be recorded, and it was best if she stayed objected, even though she desperately wanted to rub it in their faces that they obviously wasn't expecting _her_ of all people to show up. Kate knew if some other reporter showed up, they might have a chance to brush it off but Kate was an insider.

Both of them nodded, which was a conservative response.

"You have accepted to be interviewed by the New York Times and thus being recorded, and nothing you say will be off the record. Everything has the possibility of being published," she declared in advance just in case the shrewd lawyer in presence sue her ass for the smallest detail.

"We understand," the lawyer responded verbally while the doctor simply nodded her head. They both didn't look like they had their best day.

…

Christian walked into Grey House deep in thought. Taylor trailed behind not far away, he knew exactly what was on the boss's mind. In fact, he was sure that he, himself appeared pensive as well. Darting his eyes around as they walked past colleagues and other employees, he could see on their faces that they were slightly worried.

The CEO had always been confident in their mind. He had returned to work for a little more than three weeks, courtesy to the two-week break that not many corporation would be willing to grant their staff.

It was the last week of January, and the trial for Christian's three exes concluded last Tuesday. At least that was one thing ticked off of the list, however there was just one more pressing issue hot on his ass.

His exes had pleaded insane and refused to plead guilty. And, this meant that there would be more hearings in the future that their lawyers would have to attend, because if they succeeded with their insanity plea, Christian would be getting out of this lawsuit with no compensation whatsoever.

There was no way they could accept the insanity plea, but when would his exes plead guilty or ruled guilty, that would only be a matter of time and he was thinking if there was a way to speed things up a little.

That burning problem was now sitting in the waiting area of his lobby on the twentieth floor just outside of his office, and he wasn't too excited to meet him.

…

In the hospital, Anastasia also had a handful of worries ahead of her. With the responsibilities that came from being the head of department, she was also wary of the phone call from Addie this morning asking her for the countless time to consider taking the job at Johns Hopkins. It was seriously bugging her because she was still extremely conflicted.

Then, there was Adam and his family friend, the Rodriguez family. She was also considered a family friend, hence a member of the medical team surrounding this notable man. It just piled onto her overflowing day.

"You're not going to like this, Ana," Adam approached her when she stepped through the ICU threshold where a few nurses were roaming around tending to patients. "Senior slipped into unconsciousness at around five this morning."

"Is Junior informed?"

"He's got a meeting this morning, he told me that well in advance that this is the one meeting that he cannot miss."

"So, you just didn't inform him?" Anastasia frowned, she wasn't sure what she would've done herself if she was in his shoes either, so she didn't comment further.

"I couldn't reach him," Adam confessed.

They both moved closer to his bed and picked up the new reports that came out this morning from the ER doctors on duty.

"He needs an MRI," Adam told her echoing her exact thought but neither of them were his leading physician, the both of them were viewed more as family.

"Do you think he'd be announced brain dead?" She asked him in a lowered voice once they both reached the more deserted corridor that they'd usually find themselves in regarding patient information exchange.

"You've seen his scans, he was fine just yesterday. Besides, he's suffered from no brain injury."

"Internal causes, that's possible. He had an edema the last time he was in the ICU after the liver transplant. I was there, remember?"

Adam mused, she did have a pretty solid point. However, it wasn't up to them at the end of the day, they would have to act accordingly to the decisions made by the lead physician, which was a colleague of theirs, and he was a rather reputable doctor with years of experience.

"Heart failure? Suffocation? Failure of other vital organs? They are all possibilities. He isn't fine yesterday. His brain activities were there but he was barely holding onto consciousness."

"You don't think he's simply unconscious."

"I think he's slipped into a coma… due to a lack of oxygen intake."

…

Kate was stopped at the door by the very same teenager that winked at her earlier when she was waiting for the hosts. She had never seen any pictures of Isaac that showed his face, and even if it did, his scrawniness was making him undistinguishable. There was nothing that stood out to capture the attention of the audience other than his sharp cheekbones and jawlines in those photos.

Anastasia had confirmed to her that the Greys were indeed pursuing the adoption of this kid which was the sole reason of why they left Seattle for Detroit in the first place, and now that Kate was seeing this kid here in flesh, she was suddenly lost for words. Even though the Greys had confessed in between the lines that they had called in favors and pushed through the adoption process so that they could celebrate a late Christmas with him before the New Year, but she'd never really let that sink in… until now.

"What's your name, kid?" Kate blurted out, and the way she said it brought her all the way back to when she would go hangout at the bar that Anastasia worked her night shifts at just to have some fun and get laid, and they would act like they were punks. Especially with the way they were always dressed—a crop top and a pair of ripped denim shorts.

"Isaac," he replied, smirking at the adult who seemed lost. "I got here on Boxing Day, but I'm sure you already know that."

"You were eavesdropping," Kate smirked, returning to her normal, usual, confident self.

He shrugged, sinking his hands in his pockets, still blocking the door.

"What are you doing now?"

"Someone's looking for you," he told her mysteriously. "You have to see him."

"Him?" She was going for one of the Greys.

"Oh, here he is," Isaac's smirk widened and his eyes darted behind her, making her spin around following his gaze. Kate was still reeling in on the presence of the the young boy and his easy going personality, she thought he was doing pretty well and she only hoped that it wasn't an act.

"Elliot?"

The blond's eyes fell to the ground briefly before looking back up and meeting her steely gaze. He was immediately taken aback by the greeting, he thought he was going go receive something a little more… courteous, at the very least.

"Hi Kate," he said lamely, eyeing Isaac sniggering out of the corner of his eyes behind Kate as he high-tailed out of the vestibule clapping his hands together as if he had accomplished mission impossible.

"Hi," she replied, recomposing her stance to show that she wasn't interested in anything personal with him. She didn't want to explore anything, as much as she wanted a boyfriend to lay off her boss's advances, and also to experience the relationship that her best friend had, she really didn't think Elliot would be the best candidate.

"Can we talk?" He asked timidly.

Kate checked her watch and set her coat down, she had a few minutes to spare, and she was curious about the situation and arrangement in the Grey family. She only knew that Christian had practically disowned them, even though it was publicly called estrangement, but she was with Anastasia.

"Make it quick."

He picked up her coat and led her out onto the front porch, signaling that he would walk her out as he talked.

"I know that you're still in contact with Christian," he began and she wanted snort at his lame-ass opening but refrained because she wanted to make it quick. She actually wasn't in contact with Christian, she hadn't touched his phone number since she last convinced him to show up in Denmark. "Can you help me with something?"

She ceased walking and held her purse with both of her hands in front of her as she stared at him analytically wondering what he was playing at.

"I know you are skeptical of my intentions, and I understand that," he appeased and then went on to explaining how he valued the family and still held high hopes in holding them together. He didn't realize before now that Christian had been the glue of this family, and now that after visiting his parents for the holidays, the notion of reuniting the family was now as dead as a stone. The only wish he now had was reconcile with his siblings; his parents were so dead set on their new son that they had now become a lost cause.

"You want me to reach out to Christian on behalf of you, as well as Mia?" She clarified. He nodded. "I hate to break it to you, El, I'm not in contact with any of them so I really can't to do that. I am only in contact with Ana because she is my best friend."

"Please?" He begged.

"If you want me to go through Ana to get to Christian, then that is going to be a no. However," she didn't know why she was doing this, but perhaps Anastasia's casual words about how she wished Christian wouldn't be so stubborn in his relationship with his siblings stuck with her. She valued those sentiments because she was very close with her brother, and the love they shared really couldn't be replaced by anything. "If you truly and sincerely want to reach out, I can give you Ana's number."

Elliot gracefully took it and he now had to work up the courage to speak with Anastasia and attempt to persuade her to talk to Christian. Little did he know that reaching to Christian wasn't the hard part, but actually asking to hang out and rekindle their friendship would be the most difficult.

…

The elevator door slid open and he walked out, forcing himself to take his usual confident stride to not let the anxiety get to him. Not because he wanted to keep up his image before his employees but he would never forgive himself for showcasing his weakness in business.

"Mr Grey," the visitor jumped to his feet and offered his hand as he stopped the man in his track.

Christian shook his hand, giving it a firm shake.

"Mr Rodriguez," he greeted back, deciding to keep everything formal and business-like since they were in an office setting, and he was here for business. "Let's talk in my office," he led the way and Junior followed.

"Mr Grey, I will cut to the chase…" as Junior stated his business—which Christian had already guessed from the clues and hints dropped by Anastasia—he studied his potential partner. To say he looked under the weather physically was somewhat accurate, other than the fact that his words were making sense and he seemed to know what he was talking about, all of his physical attributes were proofs that he was on the verge of breaking down. Christian was once again assured that this young man was simply a rich, homosexual dandy that enjoyed living under his father's shadow. Once his father died, he would be lost and easily gullible.

Junior was only manipulative when he knew for certain that Senior had his back, because he knew he could get away with anything as long as he kept it subtle.

"I will be honest with you, Mr Rodriguez, I am thrilled that you've thought of me and offered me the chance for this meeting. However, I must ask for more information regarding this merger, and request a more official meeting that includes my executives and your advisors."

…

"Christian, can I talk to you about something?" Anastasia ran her hand up his arm from his forearm, then came back down to grasp his own, halting him from his piano playing. His granddad had an upright piano against the wall near the deck, and it was the perfect setting for his little nocturnes.

He had drew opened all the blinds allowing the moonlight to spill in, and right now it illuminated her entire form, and she was truly glowing like a goddess.

He glanced up and was met with the most pensive, yet seductive expression along with her signature lip biting. He felt himself getting hard at the sight, she was wrapped in their sheets from the bed and he knew for certain that she was naked beneath those fabric that was tightly hugging her torso. Then, he remembered the tone of her voice, so he reined his pornographic imaginations.

"What's bothering you?" He didn't know that she wasn't sleeping, he only knew that he was more than bothered by his meeting with Junior this morning and the merger was making him insomniac.

"It's about your family."

"What about them?" His tone hardened.

"Elliot called me," she placed her palms on his bare pectorals to suppress the fury that instantaneously shot up like flames; he was momentarily distracted as the blanket fell out of her grasp revealing her silky skin that he got to hold against his bare chest every night. "He just wanted to get his brother back, he doesn't have any expectations. He really just wants the three of you to get along."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just give him a chance, and if you genuinely believed that you don't want to pursue a friendship with him and Mia, then I will support your decision… until then, keep an open mind."

He gazed at her, becoming lost in her imploring blue orbs and he found himself agreeing to what she was saying.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**One more.**

**X**


	55. Outtake 2 (xlv)

**Outtake #2**

* * *

_**Valentine's Day MMXVII**_

VALENTINE'S DAY 2017

"First day of work," Anastasia groaned loudly, making a huge fuss of Taco after she threw her purse randomly at some place on her way to the kitchen. "Christian?" She called but there was no response. "Where is your daddy?" She roughly pulled her all too excited pup to her side after she sat down in the living room. Taco was significantly taller than the seat of the couch and he was _very_ tempted to climb aboard.

"Don't take your frustration out on our poor dog," Christian flopped down next to her.

"I hate the first day of the week," she said through gritted teeth and gave their hound one more ruffle before letting it go to Christian's lap.

"So do I, but it's Tuesday," he smirked at her recalling her reasoning behind her choice to work Tuesday to Saturday. "Too bad that you just _have_ to be _special_. Or abnormal, unusual, unique…" he rattled off synonyms while his fingers found its way into Taco's thick fur.

"Today also happens to be Valentine's Day," she cooed softly in his ear, shifting over and throwing her arms around his shoulders. "Are we going to do something romantic and pretend that we are dating and not actually married for decades without a legit license?"

He laughed, twisting his head to peck her hair lovingly. "I do have something planned but I'm not sure if you're up to it."

She lifted her head from his shoulder. "Dinner on the deck? Balcony?"

"To freeze our asses off? No. No deck or balcony. We're going to wrap ourselves in comfy and warm clothes because we're heading out."

"Out? That's freezing our asses off."

"We'll be walking, so no, that's exercising and it'll keep us warm."

"I call bullshit," she muttered but that fell on deaf ears. He wasn't waiting for her smart comments because he was already ushering her ass off of the couch the moment her eyes consented to this impromptu date.

…

As he predicted, she dragged him to the chocolate shop like she did the first time they were here. Pike's Place Market was obviously a very popular place for romantic date night, because the moment they arrived after a short stroll from Escala, they found themselves in an area that resembled a Black Friday shopping mall. There were lines everywhere no matter how popular or unpopular the store seemed to be.

"Are you sure this isn't a reenactment?" She teased again as they loitered at the entrance debating on whether they would join the long line. "We also walked over here the last time, and came to this shop first."

"That's because I lived in Escala back then, and I was following you around when we arrived, just like this time, dummy," he deadpanned, but his eyes were still gazing at the back of her head with love and affection as he watched her debate with herself.

He wanted her to go in, because he had a surprise for her inside, but if she didn't go in now they could always come back before they depart from Pike's Place.

"They've expanded it?" Finally, she chose to embrace the crowd. She noticed some people still wearing masks and she wasn't sure if it was a fashion trend or the trending influenza that was actually contained. There were a few booth and a high table near the window of the shop that she was certain didn't exist four years ago. "Guess they've made a few bucks."

"There's an empty booth," he gestured to the corner, and he sore this was pure luck because he didn't reserve a table here. He didn't make any reservation for any of his surprises, he was just going to let it happen naturally, and if she wasn't so cooperating, he would drop hints even he was pretty sure that his girl was one who would love to travel down memory lane before she went off exploring the new sections. The empty booth was a coincident but he could take credit for it.

"It's so much warmer in here," she took off her mittens rubbed her bare hands together to create a bit of friction and absorb the heat. He helped her take off her scarf and coat, then slid into the same bench next to her, leaving their coat on the opposite seat. "Do we have to order at the counter?"

He leaned over her and snatched the leaflet from the stand at the end of the table. "Tell me what you want, and I'll order it for you."

She glanced at it and noticed a bunch of new additions, but in the end decided that she was going to stick with the classics. "The same," she told him casually as if she was planning on quizzing him on his memory, which had been proven on multiple accounts was actually impeccable.

"Challenge accepted, love," he caught her undercurrent and accepted the dare happily. After smacking a loud, indecent kiss on her lips, he stood up and began to fulfill his duty as a boyfriend. He was silently thankful that she wasn't big on social media, because he had definitely heard sweet complaints here and there about being an Instagram boyfriend.

"You're fast," she quipped when he got back not long after he was gone, getting her attention by confiscating her phone. He knew people here so he technically had cut the line.

"No work, you promised," he glared at her playfully as he dished the warning, pocketing her phone in his pants.

"Then hand me yours, it's only fair," she stuck out her palm for it, and smiled widely when he obliged without an ounce of complain, even though she was actually trying to negotiate. "Now, I have a question," she twisted her body slightly and brought her knee up to the bench so that she was fully facing him. "You gave Taylor the night off, why not Sawyer? I saw the poor guy in the crowd earlier glaring at me when you went to order."

"I thought you were going to say something serious with all that prologue," he jested referring to all of her extra movements to get herself comfortable. "Sawyer volunteered. I have debated about security, and was going to go against Taylor and dismiss everyone for the night when he stepped up. He claimed that he's just got out of a serious relationship, so he wants to work tonight to get his mind off of it."

She arched a brow at him for the detailed explanation. He never gossiped, so she wondered how he knew. Beside, she wasn't exactly buying Sawyer's tale.

"I asked just in case you got on my ass yelling at me for separating a couple," he shrugged, correctly reading her mind.

"Should I ask him to verify the story?" She thought it was sweet that he was so considerate but she was also very skeptical about the story.

"Nah, baby, let the guy sulk on his own. He just broke up with someone, or got dumped, I don't know, but stop rubbing salt in his wound when we're already on a date night."

"Your right," she kneed him gently on the side in response to him pinching her thigh. "So, how long are we waiting for the drinks?"

The way she moved on from one subject to the next would make anyone talking to her bipolar.

"Any moment," he said confident that his plan was in motion and was working without a hitch.

She snorted, wanting to call him out on his cockiness and arrogance when someone appeared, heading their way. She clapped her hands together giddily like a little girl when a plate of chocolate waffles, a plate of two chocolate croissants, and two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows floating on top were arranged on the table.

"Waffles? They have waffles?" She exclaimed, sitting up straighter in her seat. The waitress smiled at the couple sharing their delight and feeling their love.

"They're for me," he feigned seriousness just to toy with her. "You said you wanted the same as last time, and I even got you two croissants because I ate half of it last time. Shame that you didn't look at the menu," he shook his head, sighing ruefully.

She pointed at him and her shoulders sagged, her entire body deflated. "But, I wanna try it," she whined in a small voice, staring at the waffle longingly conveying her unspoken adoration and love.

He planned on letting her have whatever she desired, but it was too good of an opportunity to pass up not to toy with her a bit. "I'll share half of it with you. How's that?"

She instantly light up, and gazed at him with hopeful eyes, but he could see the wheels turning in her head as she tried to come up with more ways to melt his heart so he could give in and let her have the entire piece.

Little did she know, other than that one mug of chocolate was for himself, the rest was actually all for her.

He watched her as she dutifully cut up the waffle, giving herself just the slightly larger piece, since she had purposely cut it in an uneven manner. He took a sip of his hot chocolate to stifle his laugh at her greediness.

"There," she pointed at the slightly smaller half on the plate with the tip of her fork and gave him the cutest expression in his opinion; not that he didn't always thought that she was adorable. She stabbed hers up and took a bite, humming at the crispy exterior and a moan followed when the fudge seeped out.

He watched in absolute contentment, and couldn't help the smile that split his face. He knew there was zero chance of him getting his half.

"Here," she picked up the other half that was supposedly his and raised it near his mouth. "Take a _small_ bite, because you might not like it."

He laughed at the seriousness on her face. He opened his mouth and took in half of the portion, his teeth hovering above the food, and his eyes darted up to read her reaction through his lashes. He chuckled when her eyes widened and her lips tightened together as he inched closer to her hand to take more into his mouth. In the end, he relented and uncharacteristically bit a small corner off. She immediately relaxed, and exhaled the breath that she didn't know she was holding.

"You're right. I don't like it."

She glared at him, giving him a stink-eye. "Liar," she nudged him on the side. She had no idea he would humor her this far. "When would you ever dislike anything made of chocolate," she observed, finishing the rest of the waffle; his portion too. She knew he was just fooling with her and he loved it just as much as her, he just loved her more. "Can we buy a whole bunch to bring it home? Like dozens?"

He nodded, pulling her in to kiss her. He watched as she made her way through the sugar overloaded order as he sipped at his hot chocolate waiting for her to take notice of the mug. He had already had the take out packed and brought to the car by Sawyer.

She never did notice the patterns on it, even after she had finished drinking from it and placed it back down satisfied.

Just as he had predicted, knowing her.

"I knew it," he placed his own empty mug down next to hers and pieced them together after adjusting them. She watched cluelessly, until the answer presented itself. She cooed at the creativity. "You like it? It can be an item separated too," and, he showed it to her.

"This is so cute," she crooned, picking up a mug to admire it, then pieced them back together like he just did.

"Can we keep it?"

"I had it custom made, so of course. It's a souvenir," he grinned shyly at her completely awestruck look. He rarely had her looking at him like that, and he wanted to savor it.

The mug had a hand-drawn picture of them in this very shop four years ago where he was stealing a gigantic bite from her chocolate croissant. The moment was captured by a total stranger, but after nearly getting turned away for good with a threat of a lawsuit, the stranger got in touch with him after recognizing him in the news.

"This is so precious, and adorable," she still couldn't get over this gift. She could never ceased to be amazed by him, and he could never fail to show her that he was an absolute, utter romantic at heart. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately on the lips, pouring all of her feelings, her sorrow, her devotion, and her affection into it.

Bystanders would think that he had just proposed, but only they understood that it was the simplistic, small, and seemingly insignificant gestures that made their relationship so special, and their bond so unique and unbreakable.

"I love you so much, Christian," she gazed at him through her slightly teary eye sockets.

With that, the last bit of indestructible brick wall around his heart crumbled at her feet.

He was all hers—heart, body, and soul.

"And, I love you, sweetheart," he whispered back. Hugging her closer to him, and feeling warmth spread through his body.

He didn't regret choosing her over his own family, because if he was asked to do it again, he'd choose her again in a heartbeat.

It had been her all along.

He had chosen her countless of times in the past, and she had not once let him down. He knew he could count on her.

…

"Cheese?"

"What?" He snapped himself out of his own reverie and met the curious blue orbs.

"I said cheese."

"I heard, but where's the camera?" He fired back, continuing on his mission to tease her and mock her.

"The edible ones. Mozzarella!" She swatted his chest, and he couldn't even feel the contact beneath the thick coat and wool sweater that he was wearing. "The handmade cheese shop, remember?"

"How can I forget," he chortled. "You made me buy a whole chunk last time."

"Maybe you've got a surprise for me there, too?" She joked, but she didn't know that she was right to take the hint and travel down the memory lane despite his denial that this was a reenactment earlier.

"You greedy minx," he swatted her ass. "Actually," he corrected, following her into the cheese shop. "You're _my_ minx."

They made their way to the counter after waiting for a bit in line as Anastasia browsed the collection on display. Nothing much had changed, and the store wasn't too big, but it had certainly been redesigned and redecorated.

"How big do you want it?" The guy behind the counter asked the customer before them, and Anastasia watched in fascination as the person behind the glass past the counter guy lift up a round ball of fresh cheese with water still dripping down from the side. It wasn't her first time here but she still liked it as if this was her first.

When it was their turn, the cashier guy walked away without an explanation, only after a subtle nod from Christian who stood behind her but she didn't see that. His hands rested on her hips, and he could feel her confusion being passed over but also feel her slight anticipation.

"Hi, welcome. We have a new product, it is currently on sale with limited number in stock," the man returned, repeating the line that he said to everyone, pointing to their handout on the counter next to the cashier. Anastasia scanned over it, and hesitated because she missed out on the chocolate waffle the last time as she wasn't be careful. If it wasn't for a super loving boyfriend, she knew she would have to buy one herself.

"Um…" she turned to Christian for a clue but he just stared right back at her with a blank expression. She then darted to the people waiting behind her, and she felt cornered. "Can I try a bit?"

"We serve it in small portions, so we don't have any samples available. I'm sorry, ma'am."

She winced then looked at Christian imploring him with her eyes asking him if they could buy it, because she had spotted the price and realized that if nothing had changed, the average price in this shop had definitely rose; she could say the same about the chocolate place. He nodded, already expecting her to react this way. He passed the cashier his card, and he rang them up, then handed the credit card back. The cashier then disappeared, only to come back empty handed and moving to the next customer.

Christian hadn't uttered a single word since he entered the shop, and he knew that the cashier had gone into inform them of his arrival, and the second time to inform them of the added order. Fortunately, Anastasia hadn't noticed this.

"What?" She muttered, but then decided to act chill and like a normal patient woman, not someone with PMS.

"Where do you want to go next?" He asked, wrapping his arms fully around her waist and resting his chin against the back of her head, this was the first time he made a sound since entering the store.

"Don't tell me you're actually going to reenact our first time here."

"I told you this isn't a reenactment, just a trip down memory lane before we go off exploring the new things."

"Why do I feel like you've done something?" She turned around in his arms and saw him through narrowed eyes.

His only response was grinning back at her, neither confirming nor denying her accusation.

"Madam," the man from behind the counter dropped off a large bag and shared a knowing look with Christian before disappearing, it was a different guy from behind the cashier.

"Didn't he say small portions?" She murmured questioningly, digging through the bag as she got led away by Christian to some place that she had no idea existed.

He sat her down and laid everything out onto the table, observing her expression carefully with each item. Once the bag was emptied, she darted her eyes to and fro between him and the content spread on the table.

"So… which one is the special on-sale product?"

He buried his face in his hands and at the moment he didn't know whether to laugh at her obliviousness or cry at it. His shoulders shook with his face still hidden and he contemplated bumping them repeatedly against the well polished wooden desk to forget that his girlfriend just asked that question.

"Did I do something extremely stupid?" She asked innocently.

He laughed, pulling her off of her stool and into the tightest embrace. "You truly are one in a million, baby." He told her most sincerely. "And, I wouldn't have it any other way."

"You really are confusing right now."

He spun her around so she was semi-perched on his thigh in between his parted thighs.

"This is the special," he pointed to a small box, deciding to give her one last chance. "This is the ones that we had last time," he pointed to the two biggest container. There was now one more medium sized one left in the only transparent plastic container, and her focus finally zoomed in on it.

She picked it up and frowned at the shape, then opened the lid to read the words engraved on it.

"You can be so dense sometimes, honey," he chuckled against her neck after she gasped at the inscription on the fresh cheese. It was a medium size heart shaped cheese for a single serve.

_To my secret Valentine A  
From your secret Valentine C x_

She giggled. "Secret, huh?"

"Well, the upgrade of our relationship status is a secret for now, isn't it? Besides, you felt like we haven't done anything romantic lately, so I thought I'd do something."

"Half embarrass me and half being an absolute sweetheart?"

"A sweetheart?" He smiled shyly at the compliment. "The embarrassment truly isn't part of the plan, but I thought I had made it pretty obvious, you just never noticed."

"I didn't know what I'm supposed to be looking for," she protested weakly. "But, yes, you have been an _utter_ romantic tonight."

"Is it a good thing?" He asked coyly.

"The absolute best!" She grinned cheekily and was only vaguely aware of how cheese that sounded. "Are we framing this thing?"

"It's going to get nasty if it gets moldy. There are tomato slices at the bottom just for you," with that he presented her with a knife and fork.

He watched her and thought she was going to put the first slice in her mouth, but he knew it wouldn't be for her when she poured olive oil and spread black pepper atop of it, then she offered it to him. He opened his mouth and ate it, his eyes shone with gratitude of the small gesture.

She wasn't a selfish person by any definition but they both knew that she would sometimes jokingly take advantage of the unspoken rule between them, which was his overindulgence and his tendency to pamper her.

"This is so delicious," she hummed, putting a slice without any add-ons in her own mouth. Then, she alternated between feeding him and herself, always remembering to put on the extras when it was his turn. She liked the natural flavor.

…

"Okay," he stopped them before a familiar clothing store, and she knew that they had missed the sunglasses store. "I have a confession to make," he grabbed her by the shoulders, and she thought something was wrong with the serious look on his face. "The sunglasses place closed a couple of years ago after they made huge money since the publication of our photograph, so this is your last gift or surprise before we go explore some new places, and maybe find a restaurant."

She nodded, accepting his explanation and believing that they did need to find a place to eat because neither he nor Sawyer had ate much while she had been eating nonstop.

They stepped into the store, and immediately, Christian wanted to laugh at what he had for her, but he didn't want to make her more suspicious than she was right now because she was already wary of her surrounding.

It was nothing abnormal, customers were doing what they were expected to do and retailers were busy selling. Until one approached them with a bag that said "Happy Birthday" on it.

"I planned to bring you here for your birthday last year," he confessed. They did talk a lot about revising Pike's Place for a long time, but they never got the chance to make the trip, and that got dragged on until now. At least, one of them finally took the initiative and did it.

She took the bag and thanked the shop manager. Christian tipped her and thanked her for keeping it for him for so long. Bemused, Anastasia wondered just how long it had been kept here that would warrant such a hefty tip; granted, he was usually pretty generous with tips.

"Open it," he encouraged.

She did, and instantly started to giggle at the content, then when she went through them, she began to laugh.

It was the worst color combination, but the polkadot maxi dress was one she could never forget, because the last time they were here, she remembered giving him the power to choose her outfit from inside out. Then, she repeated it for him, but in her opinion, she did a way better job at selecting his wardrobe than he did; or perhaps it was because he would look good in anything he wore. And, he probably was going for the hideous route back then.

Hence, she ended up wearing a tight maxi dress that was two sizes too small, clearly exposing the outline of her equally tight fitting bra and panties. Her underwear were the only sizes that he got right the last time around, or he chose the wrong size on purpose.

"You were a terrible personal shopper back then," she told him. "Your tastes in fashion," she shook her head. "Why did I even agree to date you?"

He chortled but even he'd admit to himself that he wasn't the best person to shop for clothes with because he truly didn't think the polkadot dress looked that bad, but now he thought it was possibly the worst choice.

"I hope you at least changed the size."

"I told you, I was going for sexy," he defended himself as he watched her gesticulate the dress. He didn't make a single change to what he had chosen, that also included the size of the dress.

She snorted at his response and with an eye roll. The dress barely passed her mid-thigh and it was supposed to be knee-length if not longer than her knees.

"This is the most hideous dress _ever_! Thank god you know how to buy stuff these days, or else I would've regretted my answer."

He laughed along with her. "This is gift is a prank, I'll admit it."

"I can't believe you actually bought it," she added good-naturedly. "Or you just want to show off your impeccable memory," she jested but when he didn't react to it, she suddenly realized something. "You bought these four years ago, and had it stored here?"

He nodded sheepishly. That took some serious negotiation skill and cash.

"How much did you pay them?" She lowered her voice considerably.

"Just a few hundreds here and there," he laughed at her conspiratorial tone.

She shook her head at the length he'd go to just to make things happen.

"Try it on," he prompted, pushing her into the nearby dressing room, desperately wanting to laugh but forced himself to suppress it and remain a neutral facial expression. He felt like a teenage boy all of a sudden, pranking on a poor soul; only difference was, he happened to be in love with his current victim.

She did and laughed at her own reflection along with his sniggering, then humored the both of them by posing for a bunch of ridiculous mirror selfies. The changing stall ruptured with wave after wave of giggles as if they were truly in high school and playing around in shopping malls.

In that one moment, they forgot about their role in the adult society, and their duty as leaders in their own industries, and dismissed the propriety expected from them as public figures and a couple who was constantly under the spotlight.

They were just _them_.

…

The waiter scurried away after taking their number card away fearing that he was intruding.

Swayer sat down on the bench opposite them, expecting to feel uncomfortable only to realize that he really wasn't. Despite trailing behind a couple who were clearly very much in lover like he once was, and shadowing them like a third wheel, when the boss surprised them with fast food as dinner, and invited him to join in he felt welcomed and anything but awkwardness.

They sat around the rectangular table, listening to Anastasia talk animatedly, and mostly just her bitching about work and gossiping about people, but the two men didn't miss the chance to tease her making her hide in Christian's side every so often. Sawyer also got asked twenty-questions by Anastasia as she shamelessly pried about his personal life and his most recent breakup.

It was just burgers, fries, and fried chickens, but at that moment none of them felt like they were working high salary jobs. They were just a bunch of friends bonding and catching up over a treat of greasy, fat, and unhealthy diet.

…

Back in the apartment, she kicked off of her shoes and shot straight for the living room where they had installed a fluffy rug. She tossed her shedded clothes and dumped it all over the sofa and dove for the ground. Taco sprinted after her as if she had something fun up her sleeves and he wasn't going to miss out on it.

Christian laughed as Taco slipped at every turn and Anastasia's scream followed subsequently once the both of them disappeared into the living room. He was still in the kitchen putting everything they bought in the fridge and now he had to think of something to do with the maxi dress. It was meant to be a joke, and now he didn't know what to do with it.

He left the bag on the breakfast bar and headed for the living room. It was Taco's room, at least he had already claimed it with all of his 'belongings'. At least he didn't take the TV room which they'd changed it to their shared home office.

He walked into the room just in time to catch Taco in the act wrestling Anastasia on to the ground. He laughed silently, and crept further into the room as he watched his girlfriend fight off their giant puppy in vain. Taco's tongue was flinging around everywhere, and his tail wagged mischievously from side to side as he attempted again and again to lick her face. Anastasia was already pinned on the ground and he could only imagine the amused face that Taco was sporting right now.

"Taco!" Anastasia screamed through her giggles as Taco swooped down and gave her another long lick along her face.

"Hey, that's my girl you're smooching, Tucks!" Christian finally made his presence known, despite knowing that she could fight off Taco her own without help because Taco was just being playful.

Taco jumped off of Anastasia but was still bounding on his front paws next to her who was still on the floor, but at least in the seated position. She crossed her legs and steadied her breath, then she lunged at the hound who was a head taller than her in his standing position. Taco slipped away from her only to bounce back to taunt her.

"Are we playing with him?"

He picked up the only board game that they had brought down from the penthouse and gestured it to her. They usually play poker more than other games since he was really good at it, and she was determined to practice with her so she could win a few from her extended family in Brighton.

"No, I can spare some time to play with you," she quipped, her fingers still weaving through Taco's hair and the dog was already laid down on his stomach with his head in her lap, enjoying the massage.

"Great," he responded dryly, gently scooting Taco's big ass to the side so he could sit directly in front of her. Taco's head shot up from her lap and glared at Christian before laying it back down, Christian stuck his tongue out and shot him a stinky glance.

As Christian was laying out the pieces and setting up Scrabble, Taco shifted onto his back and his four legs were now in the air, using Anastasia's calf as his pillow. He babbled his lips and heaved out a content sigh.

"I know, my girl's comfortable, right?" Christian rolled his eyes at the pooch pretending to be jealous. "I did well, didn't I? Got a cuddly woman, huh."

Taco paid him no attention.

"Okay!" He clapped his hands together announcing that he finished, Taco flipped onto his stomach within the second and stood up alarmed, then he went off scouting the perimeter of the living room. His nose stuck to the ground and sniffed all the way to the entrance before he trotted back, nudging at Christian's hand asking for a massage.

Anastasia dutifully drew from the sack where the letters were, and giggled when she saw that Christian was now massaging him with him laid next to him. His eyes trained on the board in between them, Taco shifted his head when Christian stopped to think, reminding him that he still needed to be petted.

"My turn?" He studied the board once Anastasia laid down another letter. She nodded, watching Taco trying to get her man's attention by tirelessly nudging him all over the place just because his hand briefly left his head to place a letter.

As the couple get more drawn into Scrabble, Taco got increasingly agitated. He thought he was the center of their attention, and now that they were playing with a bunch of plastics, he believed that he needed to reestablish himself. So, he stood up.

"Tucks!" Anastasia protested first when the pooch walked right through her cards, knocking them all off of the holder and pretending like he did nothing, his tail whipped violently from side to side as he dipped his head down to lick her face.

His hind legs then moved to step on the board where all of their puzzles were pushed off, and his tail was now sweeping at Christian's face.

"Tucks, get off!" He spat out a mouthful of his fur and commanded through strangled voices as his girlfriend tried her best to fend of the beast who found it very entertaining. Taco moved off of the board and turned around to focus his attention on Christian and begin his ministration by accidentally knocking off his cuing letters as he walked closer to his male owner.

"Taco," Anastasia whined, rubbing his back roughly to take out her slight anger and frustration on the pooch.

Taco sat down, under the pressure of her hands. The look on his face was anything but innocent but he was trying to play off as an innocent puppy who was just seeking some love and attention from his owners.

"Buddy, you can't intrude like that," Christian cupped his face and attempted to lecture him, but all Taco did was extend his front paws and laid down right on top of the board and in between their legs.

The couple glanced at each other helplessly, then back down at the dog who had his chin resting on his paws appearing to be content. The humans both heaved out a long sigh.

Might as well share a few minutes with this demanding dog.

…

"I really enjoyed tonight, thank you," she stepped under the shower and was immediately joined by him.

"I did, too. All thanks to you, baby."

He tilted her head and pressed their lips together in a chaste kiss.

"But your night has only just begun," he grinned at her salaciously, and that devil molten gray eyes could make her drench like no other stimulation. Unconsciously, she pressed her thighs together, but was soon hoisted up against the shower wall and legs around his waist.

* * *

**I understand that a lot of you are looking forward to a juicy Valentine's Day lemon, but I didn't go with that though I hint about it at the very end.**

**I do hope you still like the cute/adorable version instead of the steamy one.**

**Thank you for reading and reviewing.**

**Happy Valentine's Day!  
**[February 14, 2020]

**X**


	56. Risen From The Ashes

_**Risen From the Ashes**_

FEBRUARY 2017

"Oh no, this has to be the worst Valentine's Day gift ever," Adam muttered with Anastasia concurring wholeheartedly at the side, and they weren't referring to the media uproar over the weekend.

It was a day after the romantic date yet the two doctors were acting like yesterday was nothing special. Christian took her out on a date, initially to a carnival to reenact one of their many dates but they didn't have enough time, so he settled on taking a late night stroll at Pikes Place Market where they revisited the chocolate shop, and brought home some homemade mozzarella cheese. Taco joined them in a game of scrabble where he nudged every word off of the board and demanded there attention by stepping on the board in the middle and settling in between their laps.

The day was fun and romantic, but that only allowed them to escape reality for so long, it wasn't like everything was magically resolved by the end of the night. He was still bothered by the negotiations with the potential merger, and possibly the only one he'd ever sign. She was still plagued with worries regarding Rodriguez Senior's situation. And, José Junior was getting crankier each day with his father's condition not improving one bit.

At this very moment, on a Wednesday, all the doctors surrounded José Senior's ICU bed, gathered in the single room. The lead physician was going to submit the critical condition forms, and the next of kin would have to sign them. It had been a long debate in the medical team before critical condition had been declared, and right now, the paper was staring back at Adam and Anastasia in the eyes.

They shared a look that practically said this was it, however they kept it to themselves and remained professional when Junior appeared.

…

Just at the end of this month, Christian made up his mind. He was going to go through with the merger.

"How fast do you think this merger can be complete if we do sign?" Christian proposed to his executive team in a meeting preparation, they were going to meet with Junior and his team one last time before a settlement was reached and details of the merger could be hashed out so signatures could be drawn on contracts.

"A month, two tops legally speaking," Burt spoke up and the CFO nodded in assent, then after a quick consideration, all followed suit. It was plausible, just a little rushed.

"Perfect, then…" his sentence was cut of by a succession of rapid knocking on the conference room door, then it opened revealing a rather frantic looking Andrea.

"Mr Rodriguez is unable to make it to the meeting, his secretary just called and relayed the message that the merger has been called off."

"What!" Several exclaimed. Christian shot up from his seat and was about to demand a call back when his phone rang.

It was Anastasia.

…

Sawyer stepped before Anastasia, shielding her with his arms and body from the outbreak.

Adam stood by her side, flanking her but also defending himself. The hospital security had been called, but at this moment, she thought calling for a psychiatrist like John would be better.

They were already lucky enough that they were near the door when he broke down, and the doctors and nurses that were nearer to the bed took the harder blow. It was perfectly understandable for a family member, especially the next of kin, to break down and lose it completely when the patient was announced dead.

A few nurses and doctors stepped forward in an attempt to console him and lead him out of the room so the dead body could be examined, but the cries had attracted even more audiences as some nosy patient families stuck their heads inside of the private ICU suite.

The small room was suddenly crowded with irrelevant people, pushing Anastasia and Adam out of the door. They could faintly hear someone yelling for everyone to leave and also for the man grieving to step outside so the staff could work.

She turned her head and caught Adam's eyes, they shared a look of panic at the chaos, then the commotion got louder. A man broke out from the human shields that were the doctors and nurses. He charged out of the room at the two doctors hiding at the outskirts of the crowd.

"Did you two know that my father isn't going to make it?" He screamed over the loud noises from the other people talking over trying to calm him down demanding for an answer, only scaring Anastasia more and making Adam cringe away further. She clutched onto Sawyer for much needed comfort and protection, she knew he wouldn't fail her.

The crowd quietened as they waited for a response because the madman seemed to have calmed down a notch. His breath was labored and his chest was heaving up and down, but he suddenly felt like he was ten feet tall as he towered over the doctors, but not the bodyguard.

"We did," Anastasia spoke out.

"You did?" He spoke each word slowly through gritted teeth, his eyes darted to the guy next to her and her bodyguard.

"Did you know?" José pointed a menacing finger at Adam, getting up close to his face.

Adam nodded meekly, ready to fight for himself physically.

"Why didn't either of you tell me?" He cried, taking a step forward and forcing the other party to take the needed step back.

They felt like they were close enough to feel him breathing the same air as them.

"We aren't at liberty to provide you the information," one of them said.

"I trusted the two of you!" He threw his arms up, screaming in complete hysteria. "You were our family doctor turned friend, and I've consulted you in everything!" He turned to Adam, and then projected his fire aiming at Anastasia. "And you, we spent _millions_ on you to save you and your boyfriend from bankrupting, and this is how you repay me?" He yelled at the top of his lungs, getting in their faces.

He reached out trying to claw at them, but the security showed up just in time to restrain them, so Adam didn't get hurt while Anastasia got pushed aside by Sawyer.

"Bitch, do you know how much I have to spend to settle your damn finances back when you asked me to be your proxy? How many favors I have to call in? You owe me your fucking life!" He roared at Anastasia, attempting to spit in her face if not for Sawyer's protection and the joint efforts of the hospital security.

Anastasia blanched but she didn't want to show her fear. He had gone completely mad the moment the death of Senior was announced and he lashed out at the doctors trying to revive the man, as well as the nurses, then he finally remembered his two friends who didn't give him any kind of warning.

She reached for her phone and dialed Christian's number.

"Christian," her voice shook involuntarily, and the commotion slowly died down as José got dragged away kicking and screaming. She vaguely heard Adam ordering someone to get a psychotherapist to give him an evaluation; wise minds think alike.

"What's wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. Sawyer's with me. He died, and José went mad."

"Senior?" That came out as a shocked whisper.

Anastasia nodded mutely, and Christian didn't need the verbal confirmation.

"Fuck!" He slammed his fist down onto the desk, startling all of his staff.

She peered up and saw Adam approaching her. He mouthed something to her and she relayed the message to Christian .

"His lawyers are going to call a meeting right after they evaluate Junior's mental stability, but I'm afraid that he's gone. I saw it in his eyes, it was empty. Void and hollow. It was like his soul went with his father."

Christian's heart clenched at the tremble in her voice.

…

MARCH 2017

José truly went mad.

That complicated everything because Senior never would've ever anticipated _this_. His will had included everyone important, but he had miscalculated this one single thing—his fragile and over dependent son.

Gathered in the meeting room included Adam, Anastasia, and Christian, as well as Burt, and the Rodriguez family's lawyer. The will was now laid out on the table in the center, and the room was deathly quiet.

"According to the clause on the will, Mr Christian Grey is entrusted with full power of Mr José Rodriguez Sr's businesses and investments, and his son Mr José Rodriguez Jr. appointed as the chairman. However, with the sudden turn of events, as the family lawyer and after long discussions with Mr Rodriguez Sr's team and board, we have reached an agreement."

The family lawyer straightened his back and glared at Christian sternly.

"You are to go through the merger, under the condition that you must allow a member of the Rodriguez family to remain on the board at all times."

…

_Breaking News — Merger of the Century: Christian Grey made billions overnight by merging with the Rodriguez legacy_

_Christian Grey Rivals Jeff Bezos in Net Worth_

_Christian Grey Coming Out the Other Side Stronger Than Ever Taking Over the Coastlines_

_Christian Grey inheriting the Rodriguez Family Business_

"Holy shit! It's official now. You are now a true billionaire, Christian!"

Christian merely offered an appeasing smile that barely reached his eyes. He was exhausted, and he honestly doubt whether he truly was capable of handling such a grand empire; it basically represented the economy of the United States of America and the global chain.

That was a major responsibility.

He finally grasped the value and now he truly understood why Senior had been so generous when he gave away millions for him. It really was a drop in a bucket compared to all these weight thrown on his shoulders.

He was quickly distracted by his girl though, she was extremely happy for him, and that forced him to stop dwelling on the troubles ahead of him, instead he focused on the positive outcome.

He put on a brave smile and grabbed her hand as they braced for the rowdiest group of media circuit he had ever seen. Security was definitely a must now.

There was Senior's funeral, and it was expected of him to not only make an appearance but also to speak a few words. After all, he was a public figure and his funeral wouldn't be anything private. He and his family were notorious for going big.

…

_… Expressing their deepest and greatest regret in the failure of fulfilling their parental duties as the parents of Christian Grey, Grace and Carrick Grey confessed to having moved from Seattle to Detroit "as a form of redemption" after being "rejected in the worst way possible by [Christian]." They have expressed their hope for a fresh start in Detroit and for a chance to reconcile with him…_

_… Coping Together is a foundation set up on behalf of their second son, Christian, when he was first adopted at the age of four. The charity has raised up to millions each year, and almost 90% of the money went into charitable activities, including helping single families to raise their children, or troubled single-parents and offer consultation support…_

_Published in March 22, 2017._

_Composed and edited by Kate Kavanagh, investigative journalist at the New York Times._

"If you read in between the lines, you're going to find out that my parents are coward and irresponsible people. They just up and left the entire foundation in the hands of my siblings which all lack usable brain cells."

"Christian," Anastasia tutted. "Stop being so rude. You said that you hold nothing against them and you feel nothing about them, so why are you so worked up?"

"Because what they said aren't true!"

"Does it matter though? Does it matter that your mother is conflicting herself, and your father isn't doing any better? Or the fact that they've managed to adopt Isaac last Christmas? The world knows that you are estranged from your immediate family, so drop it and live your life as a pretty boy."

"Live my life as a pretty boy," he laughed, tossing the phone aside and pulled her into his lap.

"Yes, my pretty boy," she grinned cheekily, patting his cheek affectionately. "By the way, I need to tell you something, and I hope you're not going to be upset by it."

"Speaking of, I might have something to tell you, too. But," he bopped her nose with his lips. "You first."

"I accepted that job offer."

He studied her as he recalled what she was referring to, then suddenly it hit him.

"You did?" He exclaimed. "Isn't that a demotion?"

"It is, but Johns Hopkins has so much more potential and opportunities for me compared to Northwest. Besides, I think Addie is trying to get me to be in her position so she can climb higher."

"She's the head of department there," he recalled from their conversations.

"And she's trying to petition for a position on the executive management level, which deals with politics and less clinal stuff."

"She wants to backfill you into her current position?" Christian checked in utmost amazement. She nodded, and he squeezed her tighter. "I knew you'd achieve great things!"

"You're not upset that we have to move to Baltimore?"

"Nope, not one bit," he shook his head still grinning from ear to ear. "Because," he answered her puzzled face. "I'm promoting Ros to take over the affairs over at the West Coast, managing Seattle's headquarter for GEH, and I will be setting up a headquarter in Baltimore for the company. Granted, GEH is still a separate entity from Rockefeller, Incorporated in public, but at least I can manage them together from one office. I did unceremoniously put it under the GEH umbrella just so it's easier to manage and not inform any of the board members."

She didn't know anything about how a merger worked, so she assumed that it was a safe thing to do to actually put a multi-billion dollar company under a million dollar brand like it was an acquisition.

"Rockefeller," she chuckled, still finding it unbelievable that the Rodriguez actually took over this family legacy. More precisely, the business portion and not the portion in manufacturing industry.

"When is your last day here?"

"Easter, and I start after the holiday at Johns Hopkins."

"That's… immediate… but we do need to scout the places out ourselves, so what do you say we fly out each weekend?"

…

APRIL 2017

Flying back and forth in a chartered jet between Baltimore and Seattle had been how the couple spent their weekends in March. Christian would fly out on Friday night since Anastasia worked on Saturdays, and spend the next day scouting office buildings and meeting with realtors. Then, she would join him on Saturday night and they would spend Sundays looking for their homes. On Sunday night, Christian would fly back and Anastasia would be in Johns Hopkins shadowing Addie to prep for her new job.

It was the first day of April, and a Saturday, but a colleague of hers was working for her since she had no surgery planned, so she flew out with Christian yesterday night.

"Aren't we going to go real estate hunting?" She asked in the car as Taylor drove them to a destination that she had yet to be informed of. She only recognized the route they were currently going down because she had been in Baltimore for a couple of years and had explored some of the city.

"I've found my office place."

"You did? When?"

"I've actually already signed the lease," he grinned at her look of pure astonishment. "I spent more time looking for a house for us than a building for my company because I actually don't need to look that hard for an office building."

"Why?"

"Remember that shipyard?"

"You took their headquarters?"

"I bought the building they were located in, so now I'm occupying the entire top floor."

"You're kicking every other tenants out?"

"Oh no, the tenants are _my_ employees," he smirked arrogantly, and Anastasia's eyes widened.

"You bought every company in there?"

"No," he shrugged and that was even more confusing for her, "the companies that are in the building all belong to Rockefeller, Inc., there is only one company that I have to acquire, and that is the corporation responsible for the security in the building."

"Are you looking to concur the whole of America?" She joked, she had no idea she was actually looking at a leading business figure globally recognized. It all happened overnight, and she lived too close to the scene that she really couldn't feel the change or grasp the magnitude of it.

"I'm not that big of a fish in the ocean."

"No, you're not, you're a shark, Mr Grey," she told him in a serious attitude.

"There are even more sharks crazier than me around," he pointed out. "I have to step up my game," he said, then laughing at his own corniness.

"Where are we going, then?"

"It's a surprise," he told her, perfecting his new character by playing the cheesy part. She groaned at him, making him laugh and break out of character. "Okay, we're going to look at another house that I'm sure your father would love."

"If you know that my dad will love it, then you'll know that we won't like it one bit."

"It's just craftsman style."

"Yeah, that's exactly what my dad would like, so why are we even entertaining the idea? Are you seriously going to live up to the multi-billionaire status by actually spend all the money that you have inherited from Rodriguez?"

"No, I'm not spending it on anything unnecessary, I'm only buying stuff that I could've bought if Elena didn't delay my plans."

She glared at him with skepticism.

"Okay, I may have thought about buying a new house for your folks."

"May have…" she toyed the words on her tongue.

"Don't tell me you haven't even entertained the idea of changing a house for them?"

"I have, I just never had the money so I've laid my actions on hold. Besides, have you tried to talk them into moving out, because the last time I did, I was the one that moved out."

He laughed wholeheartedly at her more than accurate narration. From the few quality times he had spent with the Steeles, he had learned that they were not only proud but also very old-fashioned when it comes to materialistic ideologies. Their house was definitely out-dated, but they still wouldn't change it because they still believed that they could live comfortably.

Despite the protests from every family member who had visited. They kept the complaints to themselves but Anastasia had once explicitly pointed out how their house couldn't keep the warmth inside in the winter and the coolness indoor in the summer. How their toilet kept getting clogged with the smallest tissue paper just because it was old. Or how their wooden door frame would so easily deform from a single scratch.

Then there was the possibility of them getting tricked into selling their collections to some solicitor that would come knocking on their door every once in a while. Anastasia had been yelling at them for opening doors for random people for years, but they always believed that the neighborhood was harmless, and that everyone who came around wouldn't have any ulterior motives.

"Maybe you should try it, they've banned me from bringing up the topic. You can pretend that you don't know about it and approach them carefully, then tell them that you've got all the money in the world, waiting to spend it on them."

Christian laughed again, and she huffed, because he couldn't grasp how hard she had tried to change her parents' mind.

"One perk about that house though, it's got a huge land so Tucks can run around freely," he showed her the pictures from the real estate website.

"Methinks our daft pooch will just wander off and disappear."

"Just like how he always dreamed of."

They laughed at their dog's infamous unwillingness to return home each time they went out.

"I liked the colonial interior," she pulled up the pictures that she had taken from one of their tours.

"But not the exterior," he finished for her. She nodded, scrunching up her nose.

"And, it's not like we have to worry about our commute to work since we both work in the city center, which is like thirty minutes max from all of the houses that we've been to."

"So we've narrowed it down to three options. Two from Ponte Villas and one near the coast."

"You did say that you want to build a yacht," she reminded him as they took everything into account.

"I actually liked one of Rodriguez's estate but I only inherited his business," he feigned regret. She punched him on the stomach playfully.

"Snap out of it, Grey," he had been eyeing that property for the longest time because it was near the waters. "Don't be so greedy."

"Can we get both? A villa and the mansion by the water?"

"Are you serious?" She exclaimed incredulously.

"Like a heart attack."

"No," she answered plainly and his face dropped.

"Are _you_ serious?" He whined like a petulant child. "It's not like we can't afford it. I mean, we can totally get them even if I didn't get anything from Rodriguez. We had enough money then, and we definitely have it now. I was already well on my way to making my first billion, and then a bucket full of cash landed in my lap, so now we're thousand times richer."

She giggled as she listened to him ramble, her eyes darted to the rearview mirror and met Taylor's, he had an identical smirk on his face as Sawyer's, the both of them had never seen their boss so giddy, and carefree than he was at this moment.

"Yes, I am serious," she spoke dryly after containing her laughter, she was serious when she said that they didn't need to buy two huge houses.

"We can rent one out, and that'd make a great investment. It'll also be a steady income."

"Like we need it," she snorted.

"Okay, that's a lame reason but, _please_?"

She laughed, "I didn't think you'd resort to begging so soon."

"I am because we're at this ranch that I told you about where the land is huge," he glanced outside but held her wrist when she moved to open her door to get out.

"It's your money, Christian," she told him, and he took it as her consent to spend it on the two houses that he fancied. She just had to choose one to be their family home.

He grinned and stepped out of the car, rounding it to meet her. They were standing at a meadow that resembled a park, and she truly liked the environment, and knew that Taco would be thrilled to have this as his own. However, the likelihood of him not coming back home until he remembered that he was actually a domestic pet was only increasing when she glanced around.

"I like the meadow but I don't like the house," she told him.

"We could remodel it."

"Okay, we are _not_ even going _consider_ this piece," she put her hand on his sternum to tell him off firmly. He peered down at her amusedly. "We are only here because… hell, I don't even know why we're here, but it's the villa or the one by the water."

"Not this one but the other _two_," he negotiated.

"I don't care, but I'm vetoing this one."

He laughed but didn't fight her on that because the crew that he was waiting for had arrived when two other cars pulled up behind theirs.

"We're actually not here for the house," he confessed last minute, not giving her a chance to avenge for getting tricked because her attention was immediately pulled away by the five people who showed up from the cars.

"Ethan!" She gasped and opened her arms, squealing as she got picked up and spun around. Christian narrowed his eyes at the man, he had never thought Anastasia would be the most excited to see _him_ of all people.

His own siblings slowly reached him, and Elliot while trying to play it cool with his hands stuffed in his pants pockets, they were actually sweating inside the cloth. Mia gave Christian a hug, although less awkward than Elliot's handshake, it was still strained.

"What are the two of you doing here?"

"To save you from their awkwardness," Kate whispered conspiratorially to her, still locking her in a tight hug.

"Elliot asked him to hangout and go on a hike," Anastasia filled Ethan in on what was going on. The two girls giggled together as they watched the three siblings from afar, and Christian's pained expression.

"Are we going on that same trail as them?" Ethan asked, still unaware of the plan, he was dragged on to a plane by his sister last minute when he planned to never get out of bed this weekend.

"Yes, because Ana doesn't want to leave Christian," Kate said with an exaggerated eye roll.

…

"I really feel like we're stalking them," Ethan mumbled, now stuck in between the two girls that he considered as sisters. He enjoyed hanging out with them, even when they were all giggly and bubbly like girls, but he truly had no idea what made him agree to join his silly younger sisters on this trip.

"Doesn't matter," Anastasia brushed it off for the umpteenth time, and broke out into fits of giggles with Kate. Ethan groaned and rolled his eyes defeatedly, even he wanted to join the awkward siblings before them.

"We can go on a different trail, you know, or we can just go scout out other houses around here," Kate pulled out the map from Ethan's back pocket and started to read it like it was some foreign language.

"I truly believe that the two of you are intoxicated," Ethan commented but got no response.

They continued to walk with the two girls having their noses stuck in the map, leaving Ethan to watch out for them and steering them away from trees and bushes.

"Guys, I hate to break it to you, but," he brought their heads up from the map and twisted them to face forward interrupting their moment of epiphany. "We're at the end of the trail already, unless you two wanted to go back in."

The two of them stared ahead and then shared a glance.

"Oh."

…

All six of them were now gathered in front of the house that they initially met at, and it was already late in the afternoon. Anastasia had no idea how the siblings did because she had been too focused on riling Ethan up with Kate by acting like irresponsible school girls, but from the looks of it, everything seemed to be fine now.

Ethan had been avoiding Mia's advances, and he was glad that Kate and Anastasia didn't push him into Mia's open arms because he genuinely didn't want to lead the poor girl on any more. He had an inkling that Mia had developed feelings for him, but he didn't reciprocate them, so he wanted to make it clear that he couldn't offer her what she was looking for.

However, he wasn't so successful at avoiding her attentions now that Christian had demanded Anastasia's, and Elliot bounding to Kate like they were old friends despite Kate's less than welcoming facial expression.

_Crap._

"You've been avoiding me, haven't you, Ethan?"

_Double crap._

…

"Kate, hey," Elliot rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Talking to Kate hadn't been easy, at all. "I just want to say thank you for helping out."

"I hope you and your siblings caught up," she replied politely but she really wasn't the one that pushed for this meeting, it was Anastasia.

"We're… getting there," he admitted.

"You need to thank Ana, I only gave you her number."

He didn't say that he actually had her number, but any chance to be in Kate's presence.

"I know, but… well, you encouraged me," he said lamely.

"Listen, Elliot, I don't know you very well but this truly is nothing. I've done what I can to help, so it's really no biggie."

"Will you go out on a date with me?" He blurted out after staring at her and making her uncomfortable for the longest time.

Kate's eyes spied Anastasia blatantly staring at her, Christian had his arm draped across her shoulder looking at the side of her face, his other hand fiddling with something in his pocket. Her eyes snapped back to focus on the man standing before her.

"Is this a joke?" She tilted her head, examining his body language. Kate was really lost for words, and she knew her outburst had probably caused Ethan and Mia to turn their heads. At least Ethan had looked over while Mia was still talking animatedly. "Happy April Fools', El."

"No, this isn't a joke," in his panicked state, he reached out and grasped her forearm. "Look, Kate, I don't know how to do this because I've never done this before, but I truly mean it. I want to get to know you better."

Kate was still staring at him unfazed. She wanted to argue back that she wasn't willing to date, or open to a relationship but bit back, because that wasn't entirely true. She wouldn't say it just to spite him, because Elliot was still a good man.

"I won't lie and say that I couldn't get you out of my mind after our night together, but our repeated chance encounter did serve as a constant reminder of how alluring you are."

She narrowed her eyes at him, she was simply now giving him a hard time. He was acting very uncharacteristically right now, and it was honestly entertaining. She had already persuaded herself that one date wouldn't hurt, so she was ready to say yes.

"I found myself getting attracted to you after we ran into each other in that BDSM club in New York," he admitted but a part of him was reminded of the scandal that broke out later which smudged his brother's good name, for the second time since Elena-gate. "What do you say, Kate?"

"I say, text me," for the first time in his recent memories, she smiled.

Having no idea what went over him, he pulled her into a tight hug, shocking her and him both.

…

"The next time we're here, we won't have to be paying for our residence," he grinned down lazily at her, and reached down capturing her bottom lip in between his teeth. "You are enticing as ever, baby," he moved to suck on her jaw, then trailed down her throat.

"Can I get on top for the next round?" She asked shyly in a small voice, her cheeks still crimson from their earlier love making and fucking, and she could feel the heat spreading to the end of her limbs with that question.

"Don't be shy," he teased her.

"I've never discussed sex when I'm sober."

"You've never? What about the last time when you yelled for me to fuck you senseless? If I recall, it just happened hours ago in the shower."

"I was in a moment, so that's not sober."

"So, that's your definition?" He smirked salaciously, but there was a nervous gleam in his eyes.

She bit her lip and nodded slowly, her breath hitched as she waited for his answer.

"I've got an idea," he leapt off of her and picked up his discarded pants from the floor. Taking out the small box that he was fiddling with earlier inside his pocket. The box was of Cartier's trademark design and it was velvet and cubic.

He sauntered back to the bed with the small jewelry box in hand, she had already sat up with the sheet loosely covering her bare front while he was nude from top to bottom as he sat down on the edge of the bed, shamelessly naked.

"For you," he waited for her to pick up the box from his outstretched palm, and his heart stopped when she did. The only concern he had was that it fit and she'd like the design. "It'll spice things up so much more if you wear this while you ride me," he added, moving closer to her, urging her to open the box.

"Oh… my fucking god!"

Her eyes snapped up to meet his.

"Is this a joke?" She echoed Kate's first reaction, though she only did this to pull Christian's leg.

"Happy April Fools', baby," he humored her. Thankfully, he caught on what she was referring to and had paid attention to what she had witnessed earlier at the meadow.

"Are you really proposing?"

"I thought I already did. You want the show, again?"

"No, but… officially this time?"

"Just a belated engagement ring. Do you like it?" He shrugged it off nonchalantly but he was feeling anything but nonchalance.

The other hand that was holding the sheets let go of the fabric and fanned herself to dry the tears that were flowing down freely like a river, her visions of this magnificent ring were now officially blurred by them.

Unable to admire the specimen through the water in her eye-sockets, she squeezed her eyes shut and threw her arms around his neck, and pulled herself into his lap.

He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her chest. Then, he took the box from her trembling hand. Next, he picked up the ring and her left hand.

She flexed her fingers when she felt the tip of it touching the cool metallic item.

"This is happening," she whispered as she watched him slide the ring smoothly onto her ring finger, and it settled at the root of her finger steadily.

"Three words and eight letters, you say it and I'm yours," he whispered in her ear as she admired the ring now resting peacefully around her finger.

"I love you," she said gazing into his eyes.

"You're now mine, officially," he declared cheekily, kissing her tear-stained cheeks. He didn't tell her that this ring costed a couple of millions and that he had actually had this money saved up long ago before he even know that it would actually cost this much.

"I'm yours," she cupped his face. "And, I couldn't be happier, Christian."

**_Fin._**

* * *

**A show of hands who's interested in the original edition of this story (only a few chapters)?**

**Also, a few outtakes are in order, so stay tuned. I don't have an update schedule for them, but I'm marking this complete.**

**Thank you for all the reviews and everyone for putting up with my shit over the journey!**

**I posted a new story called _Between You And Me_ the other day, I am really sorry that I do not have an update schedule, but still give it a try if you haven't and let me know how it is?**

**The sequel of _24_ is still a work in-progress.**

_Laters, baby x_

-SapphireTrafficker-


	57. Outtake 3

**Outtake #3**

* * *

**_The Legal Battles_**

JANUARY 2017

Two hearings.

That was the least of his concerns at the moment, because he didn't even know if the personal lawsuit against his exes could yield a verdict after just one trial. Burt had warned him that they would most likely make an insanity plea to drag the case out—given that they had the money to afford a battle.

"An affirmative defense by excuse in a criminal case, arguing that the defendant is not responsible for his or her actions…" Christian's mind resonated with the sound of Burt reciting from the Wikipedia page in an attempt to make him understand their obstacle in winning the lawsuit easily on the first week back to work. He was trying to tell him the potential consequences of an insanity plea.

Christian was honestly over legal battles but Burt specifically warned him not to relent to an excuse plea, because for one, the judge simply wouldn't accept it.

He tossed and turned in bed, trying his hardest to not wake Anastasia. It was getting ridiculous with the way his mind was working right now. He could laugh at himself for thinking that the woman beside him would let him rouse her just for another round of sex just because he was getting himself all worked up.

"What are you doing, Christian?"

He was instantaneously awake, a stark contrast to the unconscious state that she was currently in.

"Did I wake you?" Despite what he was thinking about earlier, he still felt bad that his stress level was depriving her of a good-night's rest. They both needed to work tomorrow and it was already past midnight.

"What's bothering you?" Instead of answering his question, she scooted closer to him forcing him to turn around and cupped his cheeks.

"Nothing," he murmured unconvincingly. "Go back to sleep, you have a busy day ahead of you."

He tried to turn her around to spoon her but she wasn't cooperating.

"Tell me," she demanded, and left out the detail that she couldn't sleep too well with him tossing and turning next to her.

"It's the trial."

"That's two weeks away," she frowned.

"It's tomorrow," he muttered, not realizing that they weren't talking about the same one.

"When has it moved? I didn't even ask for a day off," she was now wide awake and hovering over him.

"It's the original date and we aren't required to attend," he murmured. "I was talking about my lawsuit with the _Seattle Nooz_."

"GEH versus the _Seattle Nooz_?" She visibly relaxed, but she didn't settle back down next to him.

He nodded against her palms. His hands made their way to her forearms.

"What are you worried about?" She pressed with concern but he didn't like that worried look in her eyes, so he simply shook his head, dismissing the thought.

His only concern was that he wouldn't get enough out of the sly offending company, especially since Elena had died and she was the one who tipped the media company.

"Forget it," he pulled her head down to close the distance between their lips before she could inquire further and ruin the mood entirely.

Her mouth opened automatically when he pushed his tongue through her parted lips, and she was lost in the sensation from the massage given by his tongue. Every last thought of worry dissipated down her spine as his hand traveled along. She threw her legs over his but before she could nestle in between his legs comfortably considering his gradually hardening dick, she was flipped onto her back.

He straddled her hips and pinned her arms above her head and closed to her ears by her wrists. That was his way of telling her that he was in charge, because in this moment, he needed her more than she needed him. Keeping her legs only slightly parted, he reached down to check her wetness and inserted one finger followed by a second one.

"Oh, I love how responsive you are," he crooned in her ear, pumping his fingers in and out of her in quick succession, and pulled out just when she was starting to really enjoy it. "Suck, baby," he pushed his glistening fingers into her mouth. She obliged. "Fuck," his voice came out strained, just like how he was feeling down below pressing against her pubic bone.

She bucked her hips up expressing her wish to be filled. Her knees tried to bend, but both attempts were blocked by the pressure applied by his hips straddled across her hips.

A low growl sounded from deep in his throat, and more pressure was applied to her clit when the top of his cock pressed against her. She wiggled but with her wrists bounded together by his large hand and her lower body under his, she was completely at his mercy. He bit her shoulder down along her collarbone, silently warning her who was in charge.

She whimpered and he smirked at her helplessness.

"You're mine, baby," he growled and sank into her, claiming her. His other hand went behind the arch of her back and pushed them even closer, positioning himself on his knees, he plowed into her.

She gasped at the rough intrusion when she thought he was going with love making, but no, he was going to love her… hard.

There was no time for her to catch her breath, no place for her to move; all she could to was absorb _all_ the pleasure. No matter how overwhelming, there wasn't a single coherent thought going through her mind, with her eyes closed and her mouth wide open. She breathed through waves and waves of sweet sensation.

He lowered his head to hers and she could feel him panting into her mouth as their lips touched but they weren't kissing.

"Harder, Christian!"

He obeyed, getting more and more turned on by the pants, the moans, and the whimpers followed by her request.

"So tight!" He pulled at her bottom lip, watching his sweat drip onto her forehead, and mixing with hers. The unrelenting speed that he was going at was making her dizzy, and it was making him hard to hold back his own orgasm. Her closed legs weren't helping the matter either.

He grunted, his telltale sign that he was close, and she clamped down on his member. "No, Ana," he protested weakly at her wickedness. "Cum with me, baby!"

He slowed down his ministrations and stroked her long and slowly. She threw her head back and her back arched with the support of his hand beneath, he picked up his pace once more after steadying his breathing, and to pull himself back from coming before her.

"C'mon, baby," he chanted. His hand freeing her wrists to pinch her clit as his other went to grab a handful of her ass.

Her walls quivered and with a few final pumps, he could feel her squeezing him tightly forcing him to empty every last drop inside of her.

"Holy fuck," he moaned in her ear after he collapsed next to her, still buried deep inside of her.

"I love you," she whispered still catching her breath. "Goodnight, baby," and with that, she was out.

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle, he had tired her but only got himself more excited. He traced her jawline and caressed her cheekbones while admiring her beauty as she slept peacefully in his embrace.

…

"Your man made the news," Adam skipped over to her with his phone, practically barging into her office as she got changed out of her white coat and into her own. They were getting off at the same time, for the first time in forever, and she was giving him a ride home.

"He's always in the news," Anastasia barely glanced at the screen, she was more curious in the expression on Adam's face, because he had been unashamedly drooling over her boyfriend whenever a picture of him was splashed across the internet. "Are you drooling again?" She teased as she locked her cabinet up.

"No, well, yes, he's in a suit dammit!" He admitted. "But, your boyfriend just won a lawsuit!"

"Between you and me," she pulled him closer all mysterious and conspirative. "He's my fiancé."

They were only accepting the dating status because they hadn't made the official announcement yet.

Adam gave himself whiplash with the way his head was going from her to his phone, and she high-tailed out of her office as if nothing had happened.

"You coming?" She called over her shoulder.

"Where's the ring?" He called after her, catching up with her down the hall.

"I told you," she hissed at him quietly. "_Between you and me_."

"Holy shit balls," Adam suddenly grabbed her arm as they made their way to the hospital parking lot, stopping her in her track abruptly. "My fucking Jesus," he muttered frozen on the spot. "There goes my ride."

"What?" She followed his line of sight, and she now understood what caused him to be so starstruck. "Sawyer," she called, her eyes still fixed on the scene before her equally awestruck. "Drive Adam home," she dropped her keys off in the hands of her bodyguard and gave Adam a wink, then took off, launching directly into the arms of the man in suit and currently leaned against his tinted window sedan.

"For you, baby," he handed her the bouquet of mixed wild flowers ranging from roses to peonies and tulips. It was a bit of everything. "I picked them out at someone's back yard along the way," he winked just to bring the bad boy image home.

"committing theft right after winning a lawsuit?" She teased softly against his lips so no one could eavesdrop their exchange.

"Swoon," Adam whistled. Sawyer rolled his eyes behind the man, only making Anastasia giggle harder. "I'm going. I'm going," he lifted his arms up in surrender when he realized that he had just interrupted their moment and now was receiving too much attention from the hot man.

"How much are they paying?" Anastasia didn't waste any time after the car began to merge with the other ones on the busy street, contributing to the evening traffic.

He studied her profile in amusement, but his heart also warmed at the sight of her sniffing at the flowers in her hand. There was still that tinge of shyness in her whenever she received a gift or a compliment. It was something that was special about her and also something that he loved.

"How much?" She glanced up to the side, catching him blatantly staring and broke him out of his spell.

"I was going to tell you myself that the judge ruled in our favor, but I guess the media is still faster," he sighed defeatedly.

"GEH is getting compensation right? Did you manage to push all of Elena's wrongdoing onto their head?"

"We faulted them for it and blamed everything on them," he nodded. "But, the judge didn't accept that argument, so Elena's tip counted as her own offense."

"But what is the total number?" She really wanted to know because this had been the first lawsuit that was close to her and was won. Most of the lawsuit that she had heard from the mouths of her colleagues were all of medical malpractice, and ended up paying a lot of compensation.

"Twenty-two million," she gasped but clearly he wasn't finished. He was going to break it to her slowly. "That was the compensatory," he grinned widely at her reaction. "Also for for the loss that GEH has endured, but the heavy bit is on the punitive fine," he paused and she mentally did a drumroll. "Two hundred million," he revealed, he was rounding the numbers.

"That's…" she squealed excitedly. "Oh my god, Christian!" If she wasn't bounded by a seatbelt, she would've thrown herself at him.

He smiled cheekily at her, but he still had no idea why she was so excited for him. Granted, he was happy that she was this happy for his win.

"The punitive is twenty-two percent of GEH's total worth in the beginning of last year."

"Oh shit," her grin widened, matching his. "Are we celebrating?"

"Hell yes we are!" He picked up her hand and brought it to her lips. "But," his eyes twinkled mischievously once their eyes met. "We're doing it at home."

That one look immediately had her clenching her thighs together, in anticipation.

…

The silicon lid brushed past her face for the third time this evening, and she was starting to think that he was trying to get on her very last nerve. Taco's tail whipped against her leg like a belt beating against her flesh. If her skin hadn't bruised, she was going to think that he had happy tail syndrome, which was a very legitimate suspicion. Taco would never consciously let his tail come in contact with anything hard, and his owners' legs were the perfect percussion instrument.

Right then, Anastasia couldn't decide which of her boys she was more annoyed with.

"How many times do you have to open that damn lid, Christian?" She screeched, and the tail wagged even harder as if he was equally amused at the banter between the couple, hitting her harder in the leg. "You watch where your tail is, Tucks," she pointed at Taco who stared up at her through his gentle hazel eyes and playful expression. Her intimidation had obviously not been taken seriously enough, but at least he was now injuring Christian.

Taco was always first to arrive in the kitchen and the last to leave whenever his owners were cooking, or he'd be there sniffing through stuff and pawing through drawers even without his owners around. Stealing stuff from the kitchen to bring it to his own corner had been his delight.

"Gotcha," he held up the dead shrimp that had been sliding around on the cutting board, though why it was there was a question that would never get answered.

"That thing was covering the shrimps?" She turned around locating the green silicon material next to a bowl of shrimp that Christian was going to cook to add to their stir fry mix. When her eyes found her boyfriend, the question of how old he actually was intellectually surfaced again. He was fooling Taco with a tiny piece of shrimp, and commanding the poor dog to perform every trick he knew in the book. "Are you done?"

"I thought you're using the stove," he said without turning around.

_Yup, he's the brother and Taco's the younger one._

"I'm using the _oven_, Christian," she emphasized as if she was truly talking to a toddler. "We're adding everything together on the stove after the rice is cooked and my salmon is almost ready."

"Okay," he responded, quickly tossing the barely visible shrimp to his eager dog. Poor thing didn't even know what he had eaten before it went down his throat. "I love cooking with you," he wrapped his arms around her waist from the back and said in her ear. "Just like I love you, baby," he said sweetly, peppering her face and hair with kisses.

That was for making up to the time he wasted fooling around with their dog. He was a pro at asking for forgiveness by sweet-talking her into forgetting what had pissed her off. He wasn't sure if Taco got the skills from him or vice versa, because he did the same each time Anastasia scolded him.

"Go cook your shrimp," she twisted her head and pecked his lips.

_He was forgiven._

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" He asked as they sat down with their dinner, Taco sat in his usual spot—right next to the table at the head where his chin could practically rest on the surface.

"I don't know," she sighed. "I've never testified in court before, heck, I've never been to a hearing."

Taco shifted on his feet, and licked his lips, moistened his nose, reminding the couple of his presence and his always empty stomach. He even made sure that he was seated in the perfect posture, not the slacking kind where he could lie down at a command. His eyes fixated on the movement of their hands, and dropped along with the piece of salmon as it fell from a fork.

"You might not even be called up, because other than stalking, and invasion of privacy by hacking your Instagram account, the other charges are all filed by me."

"Stalking and hacking are important, are they?"

Christian shook his head, and took a sip of his wine mimicking her action.

"You weren't physically harmed, so the two aren't felonies, just misdemeanors. The offenses against me are considered more severe. So, you're basically there for my moral support."

"What if they plea insanity? Or bring up what happened in the playroom?"

"They don't have any evidence for the playroom, plus we've got more grounds to stand on because they trespassed first. As for the insanity plea, they definitely will, because there's no way they can be ruled not guilty due to insufficient evidence, or _any_ reason. They are the culprits."

"Then what?"

"The procedure drags on," he shrugged his shoulders. "It's not that tricky or complicated, it's just tedious and costly, but there's no way that I'm going to accept the insanity defense."

"What if it isn't ruled in our favor?"

"Then I'll take it up higher, but I doubt the judge would rule it in favor of them for mental illness."

"You are just going to get dragged through this case this year?"

"Pretty much. I think it's worth it. I'll just be knee-deep in legal affairs, that's all."

"And, that should be a common occurrence for businessmen?" She mocked at his no-big-deal attitude, and he laughed.

…

The gavel struck the sound block, and the room quietened. Another moment of silent fussing from corners of the room and everyone was seated, in deathly silence.

"They still use the hammer?" Christian leaned into his fiancée subtly just in time to catch her barely audible question. "I thought they only use that in Hollywood." He chuckled discretely, and grabbed her hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. He knew she was only saying everything as if she didn't know the real terms and regulations because she was nervous. As much as he could he couldn't be sure that she wouldn't have to testify.

"Relax," he whispered next to her through his teeth, fully aware of the subtle glare sent his way from the judge and bailiff. "You won't have to go up unless absolutely necessary," he assured, and it was the very thing that he had stressed to their team of lawyers during their many meetings.

"You are here for the hearing of a suit filed by the plaintiffs, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele, against the defendants, Leila Williams, Susannah…" the judge droned off reading from the information before him and reciting the words that he had been repeating for decades. "The following charges, stalking, defamation of character in the form of slander, breach of Non-disclosure Agreement, and trespassing of private property are committed by all defendants.

"The following charge is filed against Rebecca Nelson. Defamation of character in the form of libel by hacking the social media account of Anastasia Steele.

"The following charge is filed against Susannah Thompson. Invasion of privacy which resulted in the exposure of Elliot Grey's personal life, thus involving brother Christian Grey in a minor scandal, classified as slander.

"The following charge is filed against Leila Williams. Vandalism of valuable property of Christian Grey."

Anastasia got lost along the way and was unable to comprehend a single phrase coming out of the mouths in the room, she glanced sideways and saw that Christian was still very much present. She sighed, and decided to focus on her breathing to calm he racing heart, because the subject of stalking and her Instagram had came up, and she was afraid that she might be asked to testify. Christian had already been called up.

Christian reached for her hand again as if sensing her bundle of nerves and her erratic heartbeat. He leaned forward and picked up the pen and paper that he hadn't touched since the beginning of the hearing on the table, and scribbled something down acting like he was making notes.

He even got her fooled until the page was slipped in front of her. Then, he watched her sideways waiting for her reaction.

_It's getting over soon. They're going to make an insanity plea, which means they admit that they're guilty._

Their eyes met and he thought he could see a fleeting look of relief but it still appeared troubled. He darted his eyes to the slip of paper indicating that she should write down her concerns.

When he saw her scribbles, he shook his head firmly. He didn't know how she could be a ball of nerves at the prospect of her testifying when she spent five days a week drugging or thinking about how to drug people, and stand in a closed room with a cut up unconscious human being.

_You'll be fine. Concluding very soon._

He reassured, passing the reply back. It seemed to ease her a little more, and he was almost as relieved to hear the final hit from the gavel to the block.

…

"I honestly can't focus. I don't know why I'm so worried," she fussed on their car ride home. "I don't think I've been this nervous before."

"It's okay, baby. It is nerve wrecking," he confessed since he had to get up and answer questions about his past with the three women. "I was pretty sure that you don't have to speak but I just didn't want to give you false hope, so I didn't promise you anything."

"How much jail time are they getting?" She steadied her pounding pulse and repeated to herself that she didn't have to return to that intimidating atmosphere again. The environment was seriously suffocating and intense, completely different from an operation.

"Their crimes aren't considered some serious felonies, other than vandalism and trespassing, they're all a bunch of misdemeanors. So, the most they'll get if they plead guilty or are ruled guilty, is around two to four years. They can probably negotiate to pay more fine than jail time."

"Seriously? That's all they're getting for pissing all over our lives?"

"If they don't pay up in time, we have the right to sue them again and lock them away."

"How much would the fine be?"

"In the millions to begin with, of course."

"Why?'

"My R8 is worth nearly a million to start with since I've got a lot of high-tech system installed."

"If they're pleading insanity, who's going to evaluate them?"

"They will hire a team of psychiatrists and a hearing will follow with their findings, once they present the reports, everyone will then debate and the judge will rule whether he believes it or not."

"What if they cheat? Why can't we appoint people?"

"Our people will be part fo the investigation team."

"Can I be part of it?"

He blinked his eyes in rapid motion trying to assure himself that she truly did say this. "What?"

"I want to look at their brain scans, and be part fo the procedure."

"I don't think it's fair for the plaintiff to be involved. It has to be a third party so maybe you can request the scan…" he trailed off, leaving her to fill in the blanks at his suggestion.

He meant that she would be able to call in some favors to have the scan sent over to her. He was more than certain that she had enough connection in the medical world to achieve that.

…

FOURTH OF JULY 2017

They clinked their glasses together for a toast that Christian proposed. She was more than ready to crawl under their comfortable cover and soft cozy mattress in their own home, and call it a day so she could start her night beginning with her soon-to-be husband.

"What exactly are we celebrating?"

"We did spend this special day in a rather boring way," he began, his eyes locking tight with hers.

"I hope it's only going to get interesting," she whispered huskily in pure lust, and watched as his gray orbs turned a few shades darker.

"It is," he licked his lips in response. They were in public social events since the morning going from meeting the demands of his new role as a prominent businessman in the United States of America by walking the required red carpets, to the afternoon where they fulfilled Anastasia's duty as an eminent doctor in the medical field by appearing at the Johns Hopkins Hospital celebration and award ceremony where she was nominated but didn't win; as she had expected. They could now finally attend to their own special day in private. "However, I have news that I've been dying to share with you but decided to wait until this evening when everything is out of the way."

She gave him a puzzled glance but was still paying full attention as she swirled the crimson red wine in her hand basking in the tinge of coolness in the Baltimore summer heat on their balcony and listened to the sloshing and swashing of the water against the dock. This house by the waters was their own private resort reserved just for their getaway, hence no one actually knew about their ownership, and their reserved dock for their yacht still in manufacture.

"We are officially lawsuit free."

Christian announced and watched the words travel to her ears and register in her brain. Her lashes snapped opened, uncovering those crystal blue eyes that he found himself falling in love with deeper everyday with.

"What's the final verdict?" She could barely contain her excitement, but she managed. She wanted to hear the whole story before jumping his bones and forget about every bother in the world.

"The judge called bullshit and ruled them guilty."

"They didn't plead guilty?" She felt incredulous at their choice because she had seen their MRI and CT scans herself, and not the result on the report. She knew the girls were anything but what they claimed they were. They didn't have a leg to stand on with their claims of being a psychopath, a sociopath, and an act of irresistible impulse due to schizophrenia.

"They wouldn't to save their lives," he snorted. "More than one forensic psychiatrists and doctors witnesses claimed that their disease doesn't qualify insanity. Who would believe that Rebecca is a psychopath, that Susannah is a sociopath, and Leila has schizophrenia and acted on irresistible impulse just based on a single act. All security footage and recordings are there." Christian argued passionately.

When he refocused on her, he saw the widest fucking grin of glee he had seen on her face in the five years that he knew her.

"Let's celebrate in the bedroom," she leaned forward and removed his wineglass from his hold. He happily obliged and allowed her to take the lead.

* * *

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	58. Outtake 4

**Outtake #4**

* * *

**_The Funeral_**

MARCH 2017

Against her fiancé's wishes, she accompanied a group of psychiatrists to the psych ward unit in their hospital. She could read brain scans but she couldn't determine anything without one, still, she had to see it for herself.

Christian pulled at his hair as he sat in John Flynn's office, he had just learned his fiancée's antics when she got home yesterday, and he was beyond frustrated. He was here for his regular sessions, and the good doctor would always bean the session with a courteous greeting, asking about him, his relationship, and Anastasia. This time, it triggered a series of rant. He had refrained himself from blurting out their relationship status upgrade, because they hadn't made it public to anyone other than her parents.

The couple didn't have a fight, per se, just a small argument where one was worried sick and the other was too hungry for information. He was simply concerned about her safety fearing that Junior might be triggered upon her appearance, and she appeased him by assuring him that her bodyguards never left her.

What she did left out was that his fears had come true because Junior did yell accusations at her for killing his father, and letting he die without any interference.

"Your communication had been wide open and easily one of the best examples I've encountered so far, from my own observation and your recount, so what happened to it this time?"

Christian felt his gaze dropped on him, and he shrugged in response. Flynn had an idea but he didn't want to stray from being a third party during their sessions, though he would offer it when he deemed fit.

"She probably thinks that I'd throw a fit if she told me beforehand," he voiced the only thought that had been circulating in his head since he started to really ponder what went wrong with them. They had been trusting each other and going to each other about every small development in their life without holding back, it had been functioning so well, so what really happened this time?

"Was she right to assume?" John posed. "Would you throw a fit?" He prepositioned when he saw that his patient wasn't too willing in providing the answer.

"Yes, she was right, and I would've gotten my way if I did throw a fit," Christian admitted. He knew just as much as anyone that he had a soft spot for her and vice versa, so if he had insisted and put his foot down, she wouldn't have done anything behind his back. However, the very problem was that she knew he would react like this, thus the very reason why she withheld that piece of information until after its occurrence.

"Then, do you know why she didn't tell you about it beforehand?"

"The problem is the fact that she had deliberately hid it from me knowing my stance."

"Perhaps we should view this issue from another angle. If the roles are reserved, what would you have done?"

"I would've left the fucker alone. He was a conning one with his father's protection, and I dread to have him around. I am confident that he would lay low but look at the people he's befriended—my exes! So, of course I don't trust him to behave. He just might find a way to fuck me up and get away with it. I don't trust any of the Rodriguez family or offspring, Senior is just about the only decent person in that family, I'll say."

"Maybe I didn't pose this scenario quite correctly," John mused, not a single bit surprised by his client's reaction; it was actually anticipated. "If you are in her shoes. After going through everything that you've been through to save your loved one, this one last obstacle perished by itself miraculously, would you want to see it lay to rest with your own eyes so it would no longer threaten you or the person you're protecting?"

"Yes, but he would've perished either on his own or in my hands," Christian didn't even try to hide the fact that he was in no mood to humor the doctor. He understood the first time around where this was going, and he had rationalized somewhat, he just didn't want to make his doctor felt like he was spot on with his problems every single time.

It made him felt like shit to be called out every time.

"Christian, you need to realize that while you're extremely protective of her, she is equally protective of you. She did throw everything away to save you so of course she'd want to make sure that there are no threats pending and looming over your heads to snatch you away in the future."

The patient remained mute. He knew, but doing and knowing were completely two different things.

"Let's move onto the more urgent matter that you wanted to discuss," John initiated, already knowing that he had done his job to drill what was needed into Christian's head, the rest of the digestion process had to be done on his own. "The funeral and memorial of Senior. It will be two separate but equally public events, I gather so far, and that is making you anxious," he summarized, and again, he was spot on. "have you communicated with Ana?"

"No," he snorted. "The Rodriguez is currently a touchy subject between us."

"Avoidance doesn't solve problems," John tutted, reminding him the essence of good communication. "Let's start with the basics, it might make everything easier. When is it?"

"The funeral is this Saturday, the eleventh. The memorial is next Saturday, the eighteenth," he answered dutifully. "His family is organizing the burial and the company, or the board is organizing the memorial."

"The location," John prompted, he was slightly taken aback by the additional information Christian had volunteered.

"Funeral in Tucson, Arizona. Memorial at Times Square in New York City."

"What is the source of your anxiety?" John fast forward a bit, determining that his patient had probably already gotten his head around the center of the issue if not the root.

"I have to speak in both events."

"Public speaking has never been your weakness, you have the ability and the prowess to hold the attention of a large crowd, and I'm sure your girlfriend has praised you more than once for your capability to gain someone's respect before you even opened your mouth to speak. So, what gives?"

"The problem lays with the fact that I have to offer a socially acceptable justification to the sudden merger. I don't want people to think that I'm only a puppet for them to evade inheritance tax, because I'm not.

"I also don't want to be belittled by the members of the board, especially the Rodriguez family since this is their legacy, My reputation was once damaged and still not fully repaired, so I don't want speculations. I don't need everyone believing that this is some kind of shady ploy."

John couldn't help but notice that Christian had truly matured from the dark near-death experience, he had finally acknowledged the difference between public opinion on his personal life and the ones on his professional career. He could tell everyone to go fuck themselves when they talk shit about his private life behind closed doors, but he could not when it came to the corporations that he was representing.

He used to be aloof and still maintained a rather positive reputation with a successful career, and that was partially due to his talent and handsome looks which won the public over. He was more than GEH's symbol back the, he was also considered the fashion icon and an idol that many admired and looked up to, but it was no longer the case now. He used to be mysterious but now that all of his dirty sordid secrets had been revealed, he couldn't act like he used to.

"I'm glad that you've learned from the experience, Christian."

"Ana drilled that in my head," he snorted at his doctor, unashamed to uncover the truth.

"That's great! So, while I can only prepare you so far by helping you rationalize your fears or anxiety, your partner will be your biggest cheerleader through the whole process, so again, talk to her and talk _with_ her about all this."

"She's busy with work these days," Christian grumbled, knowing full well that he was just looking for excuses to avoid it. When was Anastasia not busy with work any day, even on her days off.

John lifted a brow, and Christian knew he was now somewhat backed into a corner where he'd have to embrace the elephant in the room and bring up the subject with her.

…

"Tucson, why Arizona?" Anastasia finally decided to voice this concern after their suite in the hotel had been swept.

They didn't talk in the car other than about summer-like weather, and the sunny day that they were going to be under tomorrow, because Taylor had strongly advised them to keep quite just in case the rental car was bugged. Along with Welch, his own members of security had all warned him about the unrest that might follow especially the sudden announcement of this merger. Now that they were in the hotel room, Sawyer insisted on sweeping for hidden surveillance devices.

"Senior's late wife is buried here," Christian replied, tossing his phone away and let it bounce on the bed, then his body followed suit.

"Why here? They've spent practically their entire life in Manhattan."

"You've done no research about this family, have you, baby?"

She shook her head sheepishly. She should've done some research about them since she was considered a close family friend just like Adam, but she never bothered asking about their family history. The most she knew about were the ones told to her by Christian and Adam.

Then, the apartment that they had once occupied in Seattle was bought for the wife, and that was all she knew about the old man.

"They met in Tucson," he revealed, spreading his arms gesturing for her to join him, and they both cuddled lazily atop of the cover fully dressed. "Senior was born in Portland and grew up in the West Coast but went to the East for business opportunities. He met his wife when he was in New Jersey, she was there to further her education and also to visit her families, but she works in Tucson."

"Then, they got married and had José Junior?"

"Pretty much," he summarized. "They were pretty much always separated before they got married, so when they did. Senior relocated to Seattle, hoping that his business could pick up there since the market was less competitive than the sharks on the East Coast. Hence the apartment."

"But you said they've never lived here."

"Yes, because Senior bought the completed but undecorated apartment, so he did all the renovations and that took a lot of time. By the time it was finished, his wife was really sick and unable to move away from Tucson, so he stayed with her in Arizona until she died. He never went back to Seattle to inspect the apartment, he just let it rest there and took his kid over to the East Coast where his company was and took over the family legacy, and lived the life of an influential multi-billionaire."

"And in turn raised a spoiled rotten son."

"But, if he wished to be buried next to his wife, then so be it. We're only here for the burial and the show."

"You have to speak though, as the new owner of the family legacy."

"I know," he groaned, burying his face tightly against her chest. They still hadn't talked about it, and he still hadn't do his homework from Flynn's session a few days ago. He blamed it on their busy schedule but truth was they had been seeing a lot of each other lately but he just never brought it up. "I don't even know a single person from the family other than that uncle or something from the board."

"At least Junior is out of it," she shrugged, stroking his head and running her fingers through his unruly copper locks. "He is going to be brought over under tight supervision though, and I'm not sure where he's going to end up at."

"Is he completely out of it?" He just realized that he was actually just as curious about the real condition of Junior as her, and it was a little hypocritical of him to fault her for visiting when he would've done the same in her position, only he'd ask someone to be his eyes.

"When I went, he was just… lost but not like completely mad. He was able to recognize me and the doctors as psychiatrists, but he couldn't make out a single coherent phrase," she stopped herself before she could out what exactly went down in the ward. She didn't want to disappoint him even more than she already did.

"What happened in there?" He pried, and she sighed, she had seen this coming and she had tried to prepare herself for it but she still couldn't find a resolution to evade it up till this day. "You said he recognized you, so give me more details? Plus, he's going to attend his father's funeral. Is he aware of the definition of a funeral?"

She knew she had said too much the moment she told him that she was recognized and implied that she was acknowledged. She knew that he knew she was holding back, and he was only going to be patient for so long, so she better start talking.

"He pointed a finger at me the moment I walked in and accused me of killing his father. He didn't say it in so many words but he did point at me and yell murderer. Then, I heard someone ask him if he knew the meaning of the word, he said homicide. That was all I heard before I left." She confessed, recalling the morning. Adam would've went with her if not for a surgery that he was required to attend.

"Ana, you do realize that you were lucky that you were surrounded by a group of psychiatrists and professionals, and they were your colleagues assuming some of them know what actually went down with the guy; because he hasn't been fully diagnosed with any mental illness, so legally what he had accused you of still counts as something coming from a sane person's mouth."

"I know, I could be sued for medical malpractice," she finished his thought. That was what she had been discussing with Adam since she gave him a run-down of the event the moment he walked out of the operation unit. If any of his family members were present, she could potentially get sued and she would have to dug through piles of evidence to find a solid one to prove that she had nothing to do with Senior's death. It was going to be hard to separate his death from her since she was a member of his medical team.

Anastasia honestly thought Christian was going to chew her a new ass for going against his wishes and behind his back, but he didn't, and that got her to reflect.

"What's bothering _you_?"

…

Anastasia wasn't exactly sure what they were doing at the moment but since everyone was either paying tribute to the newly established tombstone or chatting with one another, some went indoor to seek some much needed shades. She assumed that there was a socializing section of this funeral service since the coffin had been lowered.

Christian's eyes darted around the grand space that was the cemetery, as if searching for something. He was a little wary of the reaction of the Rodriguez family and he had been feeling like he wasn't all that welcomed in this family event with all the looks that he had been receiving from the Rodriguez family. He didn't want her to worry, so he never voiced it anymore than he did yesterday when she asked.

All he wanted was to meet with them all and get to the bottom of it before the problems fester. However, along with the chill that went down his spine, his gut intuition was telling him that the huddle inside the building was conspiring something.

It was then he noticed that people were slowly making their way back indoor, he was still out here lingering and loitering the cemetery with Anastasia as if they were looking for someone else they knew to pay tribute to.

"Do you think it's possible that the ex-wife is here?"

He peered down at her thoughtful expression, only realizing then that she was probably looking for something when she dragged him around this place like they were tourists.

"I think you'll know your answers very soon," he murmured when his eyes landed on a couple now standing before the new tombstone erected right next to the one of his late wife.

He averted his gaze before she caught him, but he knew that the couple had noticed him. They were one of the very handful of people that were still out in the heat. He wanted to ask if she had noticed the odd looks that the Rodriguez family was shooting at him throughout his speech but decided that it was unnecessary since she could barely turn her head around without making too much of a fuss.

The couple made their way over and Christian moved them over to a shadier area and away from the rest of the scattered population. She was still confused but that throat clearing cleared everything up.

"I don't even know why I'm surprised to find you here."

Anastasia gasped once she heard the voice, and it all clicked—Christian had seen them in the audience and that made him pause for a nanosecond as if he had missed a step during his speech.

"Dad?" She turned around. "Mom?" Facing her parents, she then looked at Christian for an answer but he didn't have one either.

"I didn't know you'd be here, Ray," Christian stepped forward and greeted his soon-to-be in-laws. "Carla," and it was beyond awkward.

"Why… are you here?" Anastasia blurted out, and Christian had the same inquiry. His eyes darted between his girl and her parents.

Ray sighed and shifted uncomfortably but Carla just appeared like she was going to faint from the heat any moment. Frankly, Christian was also sweating like a river inside his suit and feeling like he could pass out the moment he stepped out of the car.

"I'm here to pay tribute to my ex-wife," Ray confessed. The conversation about her whereabout surfaced in Christian's head, and he glanced at his girl to see it was marred with the same confusion that he was feeling.

Even a relationship novice like him knew that it was disrespectful to maintain any kind of contact with an ex-lover after they've moved on.

"Who is the ex-wife?" Anastasia inquired.

"It's a long story," Ray sighed.

"We have time," his daughter instantly caught on. "This thing is about to end soon anyway."

Ray shifted and looked at his feet.

"This event is an invitation only, so forgive me if I cam really confused right now why you got an invite."

"Let's go inside where it's much cooler and talk," Christian suggested, he had already felt the agitation from her body when Ray didn't give her the answers she wanted. He knew the heat was getting to her head and affecting her mood.

When they made their way inside with the Steeles—a very reluctant Ray, an eager Carla, and an irritated Anastasia. Christian led them to a corner and out of the prying eyes of the other participants who were all huddled together.

"So?" Christian squeezed her waist gently asking her to rein it in a little and control her emotions. He was reminding her that they were still in public and were considered as important guests by strangers.

Ray shot Carla a fleeting glance but he wasn't offered an escape route, instead he was told that it was about time that his daughter learned the story since they had always known that she was going to have high achievements in everything they did and they couldn't hide it for too long. It was really no bigger surprise to them that their future son-in-law was the one to take over this legacy.

"I told you that I was married on base, and we were both young and cared deeply about each other. The main reason behind our separation was a miscarriage," Ray shifted on his feet and he was grateful that his daughter had found a man who was supportive and more determined than him to make their relationship work. "We had been trying for a long time, and the one time we conceived, we lost it. So, that led us to divorce. The last nail to the casket was the meeting of your mother. That separated us completely, and we signed the divorce papers without too much conversation. We didn't get any closure, and we didn't try to fight for our relationship; we only fought each other."

The noise over at the center of the room was growing louder, and Christian shared an uneasy glance with Taylor and Sawyer discretely, they were the only two that he trusted. The other security people were close to them but maintained a distance, they were backups and the first physical defense since they were new hires.

"After we had you," Ray continued, attempting to finish the tale fast. "I was reminded of a spiteful comment that she had made about why our marriage failed, so I agreed to meet with her just to rub it in he face that I wasn't the one with the problem." He shifted uncomfortably at the memory but his stubborn daughter wasn't relenting. "Then, she told me that she had a son with her new husband who was a few years older than you," he told Anastasia who had been listening intently despite the noises invading their eardrums. "So, we talked about the sweet and the sour of our new life, but we were really just immaturely comparing who was living a better life. It wasn't closure."

The commotion grew louder in the background, and Christian's head spun around just in time to witness a few cemetery guards rushing inside to maintain order, and he could see his own members of security gathering and closing in on them. Taylor and Sawyer both touched their earpiece as they listened intently while their eyes shot to Christian and his family. Then, they nodded their heads grimly, but it was a second too late.

"Fire Grey!"

"Christian Grey needs to get the fuck down!"

"Hand the company back!"

"Deceiving little thief! This is the greatest deception in history."

"Grey is a fraud!"

Some of the supporters of Christian tried to calm the protesters down but it was futile.

Taylor shot Christian a warning glance and ushered him out of the room from a side exit. He instinctively enveloped Anastasia to his side with his arms protectively as Sawyer escorted her parents out. He knew that this would happen someday but he didn't know that the Rodriguez family would breakout this soon.

"You know?" Anastasia murmured from his side, still tucked safely under his arm even in the car en route back to the hotel. He leaned down and pecked the crown of her head to tell her that she had his attention. "We still have the memorial."

He groaned.

"No, that's not what I mean, Christian," she sat up abruptly, her palm resting on his chest, and her eyes gazed at him with empathy and support.

He met her gaze, puzzled.

"We still have the memorial to win them over. They may not be your biggest fans right now, but at least you've got all the associates'."

He smiled softly at her, appreciating and extremely grateful for her support and positivity. He just wasn't sure if that was enough to put him off of his sour mood at the moment. He wasn't affected by the words that they were yelling at him, but he was more concerned with the publicity. He was sure that they were only the representative of the group that was in disagreement of him taking over such a big corporation at such a young age.

He wasn't even thirty years old and was already a multi-billionaire all because of one old man who believed in him. He was also glad that she used the inclusive word 'we', that reassured him that he wasn't in this alone.

"What have I done to deserve you?" He whispered in her hair, he had no words to express how he was feeling right now.

She snuggled closer to him and he suddenly wasn't so worried anymore.

…

The reverse was happening at the dinner table. He was eased up and less tense than he was earlier, all thanks to his rock that was his fiancé, but he could now feel the strain from her rigid movements.

They couldn't avoid this topic no matter how much they wanted to, it was the elephant in the room and quite frankly, the sole purpose of this dinner was to hear the entire tale.

"I guess I can't avoid this forever," Ray sighed, receiving a squeeze in the hand from his wife.

Christian mimicked the action and held on to her hand on the table, it was convenient since Anastasia was left handed and he was right handed, and they were coincidentally sat with each other on their non-dominant side. Carla's focus zeroed in on that subtle show of support, but this simple display of affection seemed to have gained her approval; kudos for Christian.

"You still haven't told me _who_ the ex-wife is. Her identity," she gripped her fiancé's hand and laced their fingers together as if drawing strength from him. They needed it lately from each other.

"She's José Rodriguez Senior's late wife," Ray revealed, and Anastasia's fork halted midair, the food fell from it with the slightest imbalance. If Taco was here, his head would certainly be following the drop then tilting it in the most adorable way confused as to why he couldn't see said food on the floor.

Christian was shocked at the revelation but he remained an impassive exterior. He was sure that her inside was now in turmoil just like his, though she was showing it a bit more on her face.

"Then, why are you at Senior's funeral?" Anastasia moved Christian's hand to her knee so she could cut up her food using the knife. He could tell that her actions were automatic and her mind was absent.

"It has a complicated story behind," Ray confessed ruefully, it was very unlike him to be so indirect, in Christian's opinion.

"We've got all night."

"I'll keep it simple and short," Ray almost spoke over her, setting his wineglass down after a gulp. "As I mentioned that we didn't receive any closure from each other before we parted ways, and she has this spoiled attitude of a princess, while I'm a pretty straightforward man. Therefore, I don't have the ability to pamper her and meet her every demand when she doesn't tell me outright, like the prince charming in her dreams. So, I convinced myself that she had found the right guy when she told me about the new husband. She was emotionally sensitive and rather fragile anyway."

"You two don't get along because of personality differences," she summarized for her dad who seemed to be lacking the ability to do so currently. Christian believed that it must be hard for the man of few words to open up about his past, just like he still was even with everything publicized.

"When she died, she asked Senior to look out for me because she was still worried about me," Ray sighed—he had been doing that a lot lately—and it was obvious that he had a deep connection with the ex-wife. "She probably felt back about how we left things unresolved. I was living on my military pension and off of Carla," he shot his current wife a loving glance but still with a tinge of uneasiness. "I wanted to do my own gig, and never thought that it might not turn out well, and I might need a real job to actually support my family. Anyway," he pulled himself back from a self reflection. "Senior didn't like the idea of my presence so he withheld the invitation to her funeral but promised that he'd invite me to his to make it up to her and so I could get to say my farewell properly."

"It took over a decade." Christian observed Anastasia's reaction and he heard her offhanded comment, even though he didn't know what it meant or what her stance was, he still had an inkling regarding her feelings. "How did you know about all of this and Senior's intervention?"

Ray chuckled humorously, shaking his head ruefully. His eyes fell to his plate and he pushed a piece of bone around. "Bastard left me a letter."

Christian's eyes darted toward Carla briefly before focusing back on his own meal, his left thumb rubbed circles on her thigh soothingly, and he observed her reaction from his peripheral. When he looked up again, he saw the mother and daughter locking eyes with each other as if they were communicating through their eyes. He could never fully and truly comprehend what Ray had experienced because he knew for sure that he would never be able to move on from his one true love; especially now that he had experienced what it was like to be irrevocably in love.

He couldn't understand how Carla was so acceptable and he certainly couldn't fathom Ray's motivation to devote all of himself to his second wife, because there must be a part of him that was still with _her_ if they truly shared a love so deep even if they didn't manage to find the suitable way spend their lives together.

"I feel like I'm in a TV show," he heard Anastasia mutter after a long silence and only the cluttering noises of utensils and the fussing sound of their clothing as they shifted in their seats.

He squeezed her knee and travelled his hand up her thigh seeking her attention, when she locked eyes with him, he implored through his gaze asking her if she was okay, and all she did was gently laying her hand atop of his giving it a gently squeeze and began to graze the back with the pad of her thumb.

She honestly didn't how to feel or what to feel and he could feel all that from the simple small touches from her hand.

As he pondered the story that night when they settled under the covers with the lights of, he felt that something was starting to make sense but he just didn't know what at the moment. So, he turned to her.

Sex was on the forefront of his mind but he wanted to get this thought organized first.

"I think I understand why your parents reacted and treated you the way they did the last time we visited," he mused out loud, breaking her out of her own racing thoughts. He turned to his side and draped an arm across her abdomen, his other was already under her head being used as a pillow like always; she'd usually snuggle up closer so her head would end up on his chest.

She hummed a response to inform him that she was listening.

"I think they saw a little of the ex-wife's spoiled princess attitude the last time you visited," he voiced his own thought without holding back. "I honestly don't mind it because I _do_ have the ability indulge you in whatever attitude you have, and I do sometimes like it when you are clingy; it makes me feel like I'm needed."

"I do need you, Christian. I _am_ dependent on you, no matter how much I want to deny it. You are my _best friend_ and _lover_, so you are the first person I think of when something happens; good or bad. You _are_ the first person I turn to, and it used to be Kate. Christian, I was in a really bad place last summer, and I was stubborn to admit to my own realization. My attitude back then was purely a means to search for the spark and the deep connection that first drew us together four years ago. I wanted to live up that pampered girlfriend life," she confessed, her hand reached for his forearm, then she twisted to her side and tangled their legs together and ran her fingers down his bare chest. It was still an intimate act that only she had the privilege of doing. "You know that I'm not like that, normally."

He broke out into a grin, and kissed her deeply. His arms curled to bring her head closer.

"I don't care if you truly want to live that pampered girlfriend's lifestyle, because I'm going to indulge you in everything as long as it doesn't compromise your safety. You know I'd do anything for you. I like the clingy version, too."

"What if I get too clingy and you find me annoying?"

"You can never be annoying, baby, but I trust you to control yourself and maybe I'll think twice before I give in to you and your ridiculous ideas?" He bopped her nose with his, eliciting a giggle from her that made him smile. He was half serious and half joking.

She sighed and looked at him in the eyes, even in complete darkness, he could still feel that they were gazing into each other's eyes. He could almost imagine what her orbs would be like and what shade of blue it was; he had spent a long time studying them. It was his favorite; just like her with his hands.

"I think Senior has done what his wife has asked… looking out for Ray and his family."

His brows furrowed in confusion. He still couldn't understand Senior as a person other than the fact that he was an honest but equally shrewd businessman.

"The unlimited fund when I wanted to buy your shares, and the private suite in the hospital. Who else did you think would do that without asking or expecting a huge favor in return? I think he's done it to ease his own conscience. I don't believe for one second that he was doing it willingly just because I saved his life."

He nodded, accepting her sound logic but didn't comment further. He agreed with her.

"We should probably try to sleep so we could escape this place before the news caught up with us."

He tucked a stranded hair behind her ear and nodded, he wasn't sure if she could see him as well as he was seeing her but he wanted to make love to her before they cuddle.

…

"Ana, I'm serious! You need to tell him to _think_! _Really_ _think_!" Ros was practically screaming down their den from the TV screen where she was in a videoconference with Christian, and Anastasia just happened to breeze past them to grab a her laptop from the very table that he was occupying.

Anastasia grinned and blew the COO a kiss then pecked the CEO on the lips before leaving.

"Christian, I'm serious," Ros groused loudly, her hands rubbing against her face.

It was a Sunday and they just arrived early this morning without glancing at their phones for a single time just to avoid the media outburst. He only did to send an email to Ros which then resulted in this impromptu videoconference even if Ros only just got up and was clearly still in her bed.

"Well, so am I," he retorted. He threw his feet up the desk and leaned back casually, his computer to the side acting as a camera and the huge screen on the wall before him was the display.

"First of all, I've made it _crystal clear_ that I _don't_ want to do with any part of the shark," Ros glared at him through the screen. She wished to remain in GEH and not be a part of the Rockefeller family. "Ana was there, and your girl can vouch for me."

"Stop bringing her into it, Ana doesn't give a rat shit about what goes on in our company. She just signs the papers."

"She obviously can persuade you."

"She won't interfere with the company," he glared back at her for bringing his girl up once more. He knew that if Ros wasn't married, she would have the hots for Anastasia and wouldn't hide it.

"Second," Ros continued in her stern voice. "Delisting? Really, Grey? Are you out of your fucking mind?" She almost screeched, which was extremely unlike her and unsuitable given her throaty voices.

Christian nodded solemnly.

"Don't tell me this is because of the drama in Tucson."

"Nothing to do with Arizona," he told her dead serious. "Well, it was the catalyst. Delisting has been brewing in my mind ever since I took over."

"Why are you even consulting me. You have advisors over there."

"There's no trust yet. I don't know what they think of me so far, and I don't know how much influence the Rodriguez family has over the employees and the daily decision making. They are the big ones on the board. Hence, I'm discussing it with you because you're my people and they're currently not."

"I'd say wait until after the memorial. They might come in handy."

Christian snorted at the idea.

"The associates might turn the tables on you. They were singing your praises now but they won't once you make that announcement."

"They're the ones holding this company back."

"As if you aren't already drowning in cash, Christian."

"They're going to drag me down. It's not greed, Ros."

"It's ambition," she snorted again but she understood where he was coming from.

"It's happening either way, but I'll see how I'll break the news after the memorial. I'll test the waters."

Ros rolled her eyes, it was obvious that he had already set his mind on privatizing the company that had been public for almost over a decade. She knew that if anyone was going to take this step with the company, it would be this kid. It was actually a step that she had anticipated the moment he told her that he was taking over this company.

"Well, good luck, boss. Tell me how it goes," she told him. This conference really wasn't needed, and he really didn't need any reassurance, she just called him in a state of panic and thought he had lost his mind.

"Thank you, Ros… for your help and support."

She grinned teasingly, knowing this was hard coming from this hardcore man. It was one of the handful times when he had actually said something heartfelt to… anyone that wasn't Anastasia.

…

The memorial was a turning point… in everything.

The atmosphere dropped to freezing point the moment he entered the room, and everything turned into ice the moment he stood behind the podium.

In that event, he couldn't be more certain of his choice.

If no one was supportive of him, then he shouldn't be trying to win over their support by compromising the future of the company that was now his. He was going to seize all control and he was going to allow the Rodriguez family to keep 10% of the shares to fulfill the rule on the will.

It would happen and no one would be able to stop him.

He knew he was only so bold because he had a strong support system, starting with Anastasia followed by the members of his GEH family.

For once in a long time, he felt the confidence return and he felt empowered.

* * *

**Thank you to all that voted for this story!**

**Completely irrelevant, but anyone interested in helping me with the sequel to _24_? After that sequel I'll probably be aiming for short stories because full-length ones really are draining (unless I have no other obligations in life other than to write fanfics).**

**I've also updated _Between You and Me_, btw.**

**X**


	59. Outtake 5

**Outtake #5**

* * *

**_Fifty Shades of Grey_**

JANUARY 2017

The conference room emptied gradually, each member filed out one-by-one quietly. Ros lingered behind it. It was Monday, and they usually meet the executives at this time slot, but that got pushed to Tuesday. She was honestly still in the holiday haze, but this meeting was actually interesting. Those who attended all caught a glimpse of the boss's domestic dynamic.

They were all more or less surprised by the fact that their almighty CEO actually had to answer to his woman, they all somewhat assumed that he always called the shots given his dominance stance at work and the intimidating glowers.

"Who listens to who at home?" Ros jested at the couple who remained seated after everyone had left.

"I call the shots," Christian answered arrogantly, earning a glare from Anastasia. "After careful negotiation with the boss," he added, grinning at her cheekily. He felt like a pussy cat.

"All jokes aside, Ros," Anastasia's face softened at her fiancé and turned to GEH's COO. "What's your opinion on this documentary or movie suggestion?"

"I agree with you that if this got made into a movie, people are going to focus on the entertainment value rather than the informative purpose we're seeking and trying to achieve."

"Romantics are going to think this is all about a love story," Anastasia snorted.

"Is it not?" Christian jibed, none of them had heard the answers when they were interviewed for the documentary. "I'm still not sure, up till this day, what exactly is the motivation behind every decision that you've made regarding me and my company."

"I was asked that in the interview," she admitted. "You assumed it was love?" She lobbed at him, a bit reluctant to respond.

He shrugged. "I did, until your comment just then."

"It wasn't," she confessed, carefully gauging his expression ensuring that he didn't take it the wrong way because she was more honest and blunt in her interview answer. "That was the only reason why I didn't _sell_ your company when it still had some worth. But, that's not why I did what I did. I dropped everything to help you because I remembered that it was your shoulders that I stood on when I started my career. I knew that it probably wasn't much for you to sponsor my research, but it meant a lot to me. Then, I came up with that stupid pact which I late realized hurt you more than me, so I thought I might have a very small but distinct role in your down fall. I just wanted to make up for the hurt that I caused the both of us."

Christian had never heard speak of what occurred so candidly, and it warmed his chest that she was someone who knew how to appreciate and be grateful. Even though it did sting slightly initially when she outed that love wasn't the factor behind all that she did; because if it was the other way around, he'd be sure that it would be his passion for her that drove him to do everything for her.

He guessed he was probably the more sentimental one among them.

"I'm sure Christian had a reason for pushing for this project," Ros broke the silence, reminding the couple that they weren't alone.

"Do you know?" The brunette inquired the previous speaker.

Ros shook her head, "but that's why I didn't object to it outright."

"Okay, so let me ask this," Anastasia blinked a few times in confusion. "Is this project a corporate effort or a personal one?" She followed Ros's gaze and found Christian's, who was deep in thought.

"I do have a reason behind my insistence," he leaned forward on the table, intertwining his own fingers on the table before them, he couldn't decide how to answer her question.

His thigh brushed against Anastasia's as he shifted closer, she felt like this was more for her than for Ros to hear. They were sort of discussing domestic matters but apparently Ros also needed to be present.

"I have been considering the next step if we do go through with the merger."

Ros's eyes bugged out. She was aware that she had been the first person that was informed of this potential deal brewing in the great mind of his. The moment Anastasia relayed the message to Christian, he brought it up to Ros after a few hours of serious pondering. However, she had always been under the impression that it was just an idea that most likely wouldn't turn into reality.

"I am thinking of delisting the company so GEH won't have to be forced to be made public."

Ros gasped. She knew this kid was crazily ambitious when she met him, and she knew she was out of her mind when she accepted the job offer, but _this_, she would never dream of hearing that sober.

Anastasia stared at him frozen in her spot, recalling the exact moment this seed of idea was planted in his head. It was when she let him in on the condition of Senior and practically implied that he wouldn't wake up to utter another syllable, much less regretting his decision to basically gift away his business like a New Year's present.

"You're serious…" her voice trailed off, correctly reading his mind just a few days after she let him in on the confidential information. She knew then and there that he had already made up his mind even during the later days when he appeared troubled and conflicted. She just knew that he did voice his entire thought to her.

"It's just an idea," he told her, and she knew he was saying it for the sake of Ros. There was a silent understanding that passed between the two of them and he knew damn well that Anastasia knew every single one of his thought process.

"You want _that_ to be documented," Ros pieced everything together and finally found her voice. "That might cause more backlash than publicly criticizing the FBI for failing the American citizens."

"But that answers her question," he placed his palm on Anastasia's forearm, indicating who he was gesturing to. "She keeps asking what's the point to it."

"You want this to be the climax?" He almost laughed at how she cringed when she said the word and how her arm muscle involuntarily twitched.

"I want to show the world that I'm capable of coming back with more daring ideas than becoming a self-made billionaire before the age of thirty."

Anastasia was still very skeptical. She wanted to support him but she was also worried.

"So," Christian broke her out of her own thoughts. Ros returned her focus to him and away from his girl. "What's the verdict? Have I convinced you? Managed to at least persuade you to reconsider your veto?"

Ros watched the couple slowly lock eyes, and she swore in the five, maybe six or seven years, that she had known this man, she had _never once_ seen him look at another person the way he was looking as this brunette. She couldn't even describe what was entailed; it was love and more, but with a little cheekiness. Even as a lesbian she could feel herself succumb and swoon at that gentle gaze.

"We will wait and see. I will give it a trial period of six months," she finally answered.

Christian grinned, sending Ros a triumphant wink smugly.

"Let's revisit this in three months' time to see if we should continue," she added, but that wasn't going to make him crestfallen, because he had at least got her to agree with filming. That was one step forward. "You're too ambitious for your own good," she flicked his jaw and bopped his nose affectionately.

Effectively making Ros felt like a third wheel intruding on a private moment, but she was so taken with the way they looked at each other that she failed to let the awkwardness sink in.

She was now going to look out for that long overdue ring to take up residence around Anastasia's finger. "So, when's that rock going on her finger, Christian?"

…

MARCH 2017

"Get the ball rolling," he barked into the phone and the car only just started to move. Anastasia didn't have to ask to know that he was snapping at his poor CFO.

She sighed, they were just out of the cemetery and the funeral hadn't been officially announced to conclude. It was only the funeral, and there was still the memorial, yet he was already going to do it? She was no even more determined to hold off on the documentary.

She was sure the pensive look on her face said it all, and it was all capture into film in that camera in the car.

_The guy needed to stop using his ego and start rationalize through his brain!_

"You clearly have something to say," he observed, switching his tone to a softer and gentler one. He'd never raise his voice at her, and he doubted that it would always be like this; there would definitely be time when they'd want to rip each other's head off in the future.

"I do," she admitted, "but I'm not going to say it. We had an understanding that we won't intervene with the other's career."

"Yes, but you have before and I trust your judgement," _to an extent_. He added. "Your career is just too advance for me to grasp other than maybe to offer you advise when it comes to establishing and maintain social connections."

"I think you should hold off on delisting. You had the support of the associates now, but if you announced your plans, they won't be on your side during the memorial. Especially, the memorial service is a much larger event."

"I'm not announcing it," he assured her, taking her hand in his. They still had to dine with her parents since Ray didn't finish his tale earlier. "Trust me on this baby, I know what I'm doing."

"How long will it take?"

"Give or take, I'd say three to four months to completely detach from the market with the shares bought back. The only issue is the family," he was pretty confident in his ability to persuade the rest of the shareholders to sell.

"What would be the worst case?"

"They can actually sue me, and they will have a ground to stand on if they did. So, it's up to my negotiation and persuasive ability. If I can't get this done privately, it's going to get nasty in public." It was true that it was clearly stated in Senior's will that he would request at least one member of the Rodriguez family to remain attached to the business.

"Why are you willing to risk potentially everything just to have something that you already have a considerable amount of control over? I still don't get it."

"You are going to support me right? You won't take off if this all fails, right?"

"Yes, I will still be with you and I won't love you any less, but please, make me understand, Christian. Why are you suddenly feeling the need to gamble? To showcase your bravery? This is too risky."

"I need control."

"You have them as the CEO."

"That's not enough, and it's not risky, it just has a huge consequence," he lobbed and he knew that she got the meaning. After all she was the one who introduced the difference between the two concepts to him in the first place. He didn't agree with her at first, but now he absolutely understood her point of view and a hundred percent assented to this perspective.

They had a conversation about her work, and she had tried to get him to see the differences between risk and consequence.

In her opinion, she wasn't risking anything in the operation room because she was well prepared and knew exactly what she was going to do. Her profession just had a greater consequence than the medics that didn't work in the operation room, because her patient could die as a consequence but death wasn't a risk.

…

It was late in the month of March and it was as if time flew by, because so many events occurred in the span of time. They were going to break the news to his immediate staff since the delisting was now almost over and he had to address the rumors to put them to rest once and for all.

Christian and Anastasia were both subtly aware of the crew behind them and a camera pointing at them as they walked, forcing the man behind it to back track. If they were uncomfortable, neither showed it. However, it wasn't lost on them that the other attendees were slightly bemused and it was written all over their faces.

"Are we late?" Christian broke the silence that ensued upon their grand entry. "Or did all of you got here extra early because you wanted to get it over with?" He joked, breaking the ice, but Anastasia wasn't sure how successful it was given the trepidation in their eyes.

"You're late, boss," Ros stepped forward making a beeline for Anastasia all the while throwing looks at the boss. "We ate everything," she informed, "but," pulling away from the brunette with her hand still on her shoulder, "I saved some for you." She winked and led her away.

"Hey, I gave the company to you not in exchange for my fiancée," Christian protested, yanking said female out of Ros's grasp.

Everyone in the room gasped and froze on the spot, some darted to her naked ring finger even more confused than ever. Christian draped an arm over Anastasia's shoulder and smiled mischievously.

"Oops, guess I'll have to make the announcements sooner than I expected. I was planning to tell you all after I got the lot of you drunk," he grinned from ear-to-ear, and pecked his girl on the cheek. "I have recently made the decision to merge with the Rockefeller Inc., and also decided to move to the East Coast for personal reasons," some more gasps rounded the room, and he flashed everyone a mysterious smile.

They were easier to fend off than the nosy paps.

They were occupying the atrium of the top floor, and since it was a workday—being a Monday so Anastasia could show up—the party would take place for the entire day, and the food would always be there. So, whoever had the time and wanted to visit the top floor of Grey House, they were welcomed to come up and snack. If they were lucky and got here just in time, they could see their CEO in his best mood.

"Yes, private reasons," he teased, making Anastasia elbow him in the ribs. "The new headquarter for the merged companies will be in Baltimore, Maryland," he declared, purposely avoiding the use of an official name since his plans were still in action. "The Seattle base will always be the headquarters for Grey Enterprise Holdings, and you all will always belong to Grey House as part of the GEH family no matter what the future holds. Ros will be here to take care of you all and I will be making frequent visits."

He announced the business related part of the speech and now he was going to move on to the personal section of the speech.

"With that being said, other than the important members of our family," he indicated between the woman on his arm and himself. "We've decided to wait until we settle into our new home on the East Coast to pick out a ring and officially announce the engagement. However, since the GEH family has been with me, with us, through the ups and downs in the past several years, we feel honored to be able to share the secret joy with you all first."]

Christian beamed at his employees, and he faintly registered a few more executives ducking out of their offices and some walking out of the elevator. Everyone who worked in this building had all been regarded to be working at the highest rank since they weren't working at some subsidiary.

"A toast to m future bride, and a toast to everyone in this family who had to put up with me for the seven or so years, because there will be more to come." He raised his champaign glass and the rest followed suit. "To a fresh page!"

Cheers erupted, and this was surprisingly Christian's most carefree moment they had seen. All the apprehension dissipated for the day, and congratulations flooded in, echoed around the atrium. Some went to him to offer their congratulations in person, as well as a chance to clink their glasses with him, they were probably determined to drink with him to get him drunk; however, it wasn't lost on him that the majority rushed to Anastasia, and were now gushing over her.

He couldn't decide whether it was because she was more easy-going and less intimidating, or they believed that she would ever try to influence his business decisions.

Though, that didn't stop him from feeling elated and on cloud nine. The last time they gathered around for a celebration on a workday was when he bought the Mile High Club, but he remembered he was sulking back then over her.

"It was nice to see you so laidback and chill for once," Ros approached him and the both of them watched in amusement as Anastasia got swarmed by the others; it must be an overwhelming experience for him.

"It is only a one-time thing, Bailey, don't get used to it."

"Well, then I should take advantage of the opportunity," she grinned.

"The answer is no, Ros. I know what you're going to ask." She laughed in his face because she knew Christian was spot-on, and knew they were referring to the exact same thing.

"You don't even know what I'm about to ask."

"You want Gia Matteo to design the new office," he refrained from calling her out like he would used to do and act like an asshole without a sense of humor. "And you've been badgering me for it for four years straight."

Ros laughed, it was true and she didn't even realize that it had been over four years. "Why not? You were fine with it four years ago, and you were going to meet with her and sign the contract but you played hooky that day."

"Actually, I was going to tell you no four years ago, but it was my birthday so I played hooky and that meeting just never happened. Granted, the offices do need to be renovated, since I don't believe you liked the style of my current office."

"Wait…" her jaw slowly loosened toward the ground. "You're for real," she let out slowly.

He nodded, sipping his bubbly wine. He wasn't particular to the taste of it but Anastasia liked it, so he ordered that on top of everything else.

"I'm getting half of this floor?" She checked.

He nodded again, eyeing her amusedly.

"You're not going to take it back come tomorrow?"

He shook his head, stifling a laugh, but was unable to contain that mocking smile so he hid it behind his rim.

"When are you moving out?"

Christian threw his head back laughing.

"You're not drunk are you?"

"No, I'm not," he sobered up from the laugh. "Not even close to tipsy. I am moving out in April."

"You must have a condition, you are never that generous," Ros squinted her eyes at him.

"I do have one," he lifted a finger and his eyes twinkled with mischief, she tensed up slightly imaging it to be some ridiculous demand that she couldn't fulfill. "I get to veto the new blueprint before it's signed."

"Why?" She removed the flute from her lips and glared at him suspiciously.

"Because I'm kicking you out when I visit, and like I said, I'm making frequent visits." What he didn't say was that those trips would decrease in frequency as time went by. He was just handing it over to her gradually.

"Asshole, I knew it!" Ros punched his arm, laughing. "I knew you're not giving up control that easily."

His eyes darted around searching for is girl, and like he had anticipated, she was at the center of the most populated corner. She truly was a magnate.

"Why are you mixing drinks?" He approached her like other magnets, he just had a stronger and mutual attraction with her.

"It's for you," she grinned at him. "They were just watching because they don't believe that I used to work at a bar."

He smiled fondly at the memory of their very first encounter. It surely was hard to forget.

"I tipped you very generously," he reminded her. "Then, contributed the most to your wad of cash that night."

"How could I forget. You were trying so hard to make me rich overnight, and you didn't even walk me home like the gentleman you claimed you are."

"I still achieved it four years later," he taunted. "You have half the GEH share and I made half a billion overnight. As for being a gentleman, I don't recall letting you into that small detail."

She eyed him from the corner of her sockets pretending that she wouldn't acknowledge his arrogant statement. The audience were now more or less engaging in talks among one another, not wanting to eavesdrop so blatantly. They were all well aware of the CEO's relaxed stance and they all knew better to believe that it would extend to the following day.

"Here, try it," she dabbed the rim and the exterior o the cocktail glass with a tissue like a professional bartender before handing it to him.

"Reminds me of Vesper but I'm nothing like Bond." He eyed the liquid in the glass. It looked oddly familiar.

"It's not even the same color as James's Vesper," she cocked her brow.

He observed the drink; the dilute Star of Bombay color in the mixer that resembled something between cobalt and sapphire—he couldn't really decide. He placed the rim to his parted lips and his eyes found her blue ones, they were especially deep and electric today. The glass tipped slightly and the fluid touched his lips, they flowed into his mouth and landed on his tongue perfectly. He steadied the booze and closed his mouth, registering the flavor and taste.

Then, his eyes popped open in surprise and the corner of his mouth ascended into a lopsided smirk.

It made him sinfully hot and even more enigmatic.

"You remembered," he arched a perfect brow at the woman who claimed that she couldn't recall what she served him the first time they met. "So, you _did_ take a particular interest in me," he smirked oozing cockiness and confidence.

So much so that her initial hubris for shocking him waned.

"Do you still like it?" She inquired shyly, not even sure if it tasted the same as he remembered.

Throwing his head back, he drained the glass.

"Do I get a second?" He said instead of answering directly, hoping that his action and reply was enough to assure her.

"Unless you buy the supplies," she giggled coyly. They were now blatantly flirting under every employee's watchful eyes.

"Can I have the recipe, then?" He swayed closer to her and leaned back against the makeshift bar facing her with a devious and dirty smirk that made her panties wet. If he wasn't in his tailored suit and tie, she would think that he was some dark knight.

"Are you tipsy?"

"I'm drunk," he slurred on purpose, and she knew that he wasn't even close to intoxication. "Drunk in love," he then added, his smirk turning lazy but sexy nonetheless.

She shoved his chest friskily.

"You keep acting like this and you're seriously going to give your staff whiplash," she warned him gently. "They won't know how to act tomorrow."

"Should I stop drinking then? Or, are you calling me a lightweight?"

She glared at his lame jokes.

"Promise me that you'll make me that shit at home," he told her sternly. "Makes me recollect that time when you have to work your ass off to get to where you are now. Literally," he added.

They spent the next hour with some staff who had developed a close rapport with Anastasia during the six months that she took charge crying on her shoulder, asking her to stay or keep in touch by visiting often.

Christian watched from the side and allowed some of his staff to take advantage of his extremely good mood to get away with a few small mistakes as well as receiving the go ahead for some other projects.

He was being lenient today, but only to a small degree because he still had a reputation to uphold.

The camera crew effectively forgotten by everyone in attendance.

Anastasia on the other hand had a completely different plan for the documentary now.

…

APRIL 2017

The same people were now around the same table discussing the same project.

The documentary.

"The delisting is almost through, and it will soon be a private entity," Christian declared to the people seated, Ros and Anastasia shared a secretive glance, they knew that Christian still had one more trick up his sleeve.

That was the goal of including the Rockefeller Incorporated under the name of Grey Enterprise Holdings.

"So, what's the assessment so far?" It was for Anastasia since she was the one ultimately calling the shots in the final decision to publish.

"Negative," she replied calmly. "I don't want to go ahead with the documentary, however I am going to ask for the footage. The documentary will still be made, but for an entirely different purpose."

…

"Wait, I thought we were the ones planning it, since when did it fall into her lap?" Christian pulled her to a stop before the entrance of the Mile High Club.

They were here for the engagement party that shockingly fell out of their responsibility once they settled on a date and location as well as a guest list. It was the late afternoon on the eighth of April on a Saturday, so no one would need to battle a hangover getting to work on the next day.

"Did we look like we had the time to deal with the details?" She rebutted, she for one didn't, having spent most of her week tying up lose ends at work and passing over her duties as well as getting acquainted with the team from the Swedish Medical Center just so she might receive an invitation to go to Sweden some time in the future. "At least we got to plan one thing."

In they went and cheers from all over the VIP section erupted, it was deafening. Too loud that they were sure the other guests on the floor below could hear them over the equally penetrating music. They only closed the VIP floor to keep the party small and intimate. However, it was inevitable for the VIPs to end up in the mix down below.

Hence, the vetting process was chokingly strict tonight to the members, and they'd prohibited all guests.

The next second, they were drowning in the swarm of people all trying to offer them their congratulations. They felt suffocated even though they only had something like twenty to thirty friends present.

"Now we know just exactly how many people we're inviting to our wedding," she spoke in his ear once they were finally presented a chance to breath. He laughed in agreement, giving her waist an affectionate squeeze.

"Before we toast to anything, and anyone makes any speech, the couple under the limelight has a montage for you all just to seize the opportunity when you're all sober." Kate gathered everyone's attention and they all turned to the display in the room following her gesture.

The screen faded into a black background with white characters.

_Fifty Shades of Grey_

Christian's voice faded on before the screen changed. He was speaking but the movie showed a clip of him getting out of his car and walking into Grey House with Taylor trailing behind.

"I have no idea what prompted me to do this, but I must be possessed with _something_ since I haven't been able to shut down the thoughts even though Ana said no to it multiple times."

The man in the movie surfaced from behind the camera and sat down on the plush armchair opposite of it, right in front of the frame.

"I guess I just felt cheated on," there was a pregnant pause as he pondered his next words. "I don't exactly feel betrayed but definitely let down, but… a lot of people." He nodded, and propped his elbows on either side of the arm rest and let his hands meet beneath his chin, loosely intertwining his fingers. "Maybe I'm doing this out of spite, but I think I like the feeling of taking advantage of someone weak just like the justice system and many other people had done to me. Yes," he nodded to himself again. "I'm starting to enjoy it, and I want to document it, because this is exactly how I've been cheated on, only I get to be the bad guy this time."

The screen shifted to him in a meeting, sitting at the head of the long table. It was one of the meeting regarding the documentary but it was mute. The VoiceOver came on, and it was his voice.

"I'm Christian Grey, a businessman from Seattle, Washington, and this," the camera shifted to the exterior of Grey House. "Is my brainchild, Grey Enterprise Holdings."

If the prequel was anything shocking, and the introduction was everything unusual, then the audience would now be able to grasp the tone set for the rest of the documentary. It could be considered as a thriller if the suspense created by the crazily ambitious decision he made was anything to go by.

"This is my fiancée, Anastasia," a frame of her walking out of the hospital in the afternoon and into the awaiting silver car. "And this is Taco, the most well-behaved member of our family," the dog int he movie rolled to his back, exposing his stomach and a small treat found its way into his mouth. "In front of food only."

Scattered laughters erupted from the audience and some other cooed at the cuteness.

"Welcome to my soap opera," Christian's voice over a film clip of Taco snatching an over mitten from the kitchen counter and escaping with his male owner chasing behind him and Anastasia giggling at the scene.

The clip then showed the couple walking down a street, and this could be one of the few times they walked anywhere without being hounded.

"I selfishly pulled her into my drama a year ago," it was his voice but the footage was of them strolling in a happy manner.

"It was unnerving," Anastasia said in response to the question about her feelings when she was subjected to take over the entire Grey empire. She was now in the same plush armchair that Christian previously occupied at the beginning of the clip. "To have everything thrown in your lap and backed you into a corner. That Will represented the man's entire life, and I wasn't his enemy; I was far from it despite everything that occurred between us. I understand that it had been my choice to choose the path that we had partake, but to have been called to sign on someone's death note was an entirely different, and- overwhelming experience."

She knew she was shifting uncomfortably beneath her skin as the camera glared into her face, and a microphone over her head while the interviewer was only nodding mutely as if whatever she said wouldn't matter.

There was a visible switch of the screen which meant that some parts were cut off.

"People all assumed that it was either because of something he was holding over me or that I could benefit from it, or some hopeless romantic believed that it was love-driven for me to keep it and actually get fully involved."

Anastasia remembered wanting to roll her eyes at the notion but refrained herself.

"Truth was, it wasn't because of love. I do love him, and that is why I didn't sell it, but it was't love that motivated me to drop everything just to help keep his company afloat. It really was the fact that I feel like I owe it to him since he picked me up when I was struggling financially before I became a doctor.

"Also the guilt played a factor in it. I was the one who broke up with him and I still did id despite knowing how much it would hurt him. At the time, I selfishly prioritized my own life before ours and I knew that if I'd asked, he'd sacrifice everything for me."

"We have a slightly different dynamic than any average couple that you expect," he narrated again, the scene shifted again into motion. "We are both workaholics, and that makes us live like we're roommates with benefits instead of lovers during the week."

Some of the footage of their domestic life was shown, eliciting a few chuckles here and there.

"My life seems ordinary but I'm not fifty shades for nothing," the shot switched to the funeral in March. "This is one of the public events I have to attend."

Since the event was a public one, they were able to film him making the speech.

"This isn't the first time I've considered the idea of merging, but the first time it was proposed I turned it down."

A pause ensued and he appeared thoughtful in the film as the screen morphed into the interview.

"I honestly just want a few years of less exciting life. The past four years are too eventful."

Footages from the press conference appeared.

"I don't regret uttering those responses just like I don't regret making the decision to merge," then it morphed into the part of them in the car.

"There are a lot of opposition, and it's even scarier that it's palpable and I was actually there to witness it," Anastasia sat in the same armchair after overlapping with the mute motion picture. "I had my doubts and I worry, but that doesn't stop me from supporting my fiancé. It was a tough situation for him because it's such a drastic transformation, and he has been pondering, weighing his choices for a long time… we've had numerous sleepless nights," and the both of them knew that she was only saying this for the benefit of the audience because they weren't plagued with just a single problem. "It was truly a struggle, more for him than for me."

"It's probably wrong and unethical for me to take another family's legacy just because I was offered a chance. But, I don't think I'm taking a mile when I was only given an inch—I don't see it that way albeit public beliefs."

The screen displayed the interview setup, and he appeared pensive and deep in thought.

"The decision to privatize was made before the merger went through, and the defiance and protests from the family is only a catalyst. I have been called ungrateful, but if I am too considerate and sensitive like I was four years ago, I'd get stomped all over again. I had something that people can hold against me four years ago, and trusted that I would have at least more than a handful of people that remained loyal to me, but I was proven wrong in the hardest way.

"It feels like shit to be fucked over and let down by the people who you were taught to trust, thought you could rely on, and turn for help in dire situations. So, I'm not going to let it happen again, hence I made the decision to utilize my power as the CEO given carte blanc to the company. I was naïve once, and I don't like the consequence, so I'm not going down that road again."

The documentary continued focusing mainly on his business, bu also snippets of how he casually announced their engagement to the staff on that party, but leaving out the part about relocation out. Since their attendees weren't strictly close friends.

"Ready?" Anastasia's thumb hovered above the post button on the screen, it was the last scene of their documentary. The background was actually some of the nocturne piano music Christian had played with her sitting through next to him in their sleepless nights.

Christian nodded in the film, and he held her closer to his side. They held their breath as the button was pressed.

A picture of them against the backdrop of the darkened Seattle skyline from their Escala full-length window to the deck was the sole content of the post; there was no caption.

In the photo, a couple was gazing into each other's eyes. The man laid his hand atop of the woman's left on as it rested idly on his chest, the rock caught light of the beam in the room and the reflection blinded the camera more than a burning magnesium strip.

They looked like they were about to kiss with their faces only inches apart, and their gaze locked dead with one another. The chemistry and sexual tension was so palpable that it could be felt even though the photograph.

It was an Instagram post that nearly crashed the platform, even her personal account suddenly became popular.

* * *

**If you've read this on wordpress already, there will be more.**

**X**


	60. Outtake 6

**Outtake #6**

* * *

**_Fire On Fire_**

OCTOBER 2018

"Mrs Grey?!" Anastasia snatched the invite from Andrea and marched toward the doors behind her, throwing it open, she stood with her hands on her hips glaring at the man sitting behind the desk. "You still haven't got it changed? _Mr_ Grey!"

Christian stared back at her blankly then at the person sitting across from him, her eyes followed his gaze, dragging it across the room to see a huge dropdown screen like they were watching a movie. More people in suits were displayed on said screen but they were talking animatedly. Her eyes widened at what she just walked in on.

"I'll get out of here and resume the meeting from my office. Don't want to get caught in between another marital problem." Ros hastily packed up the documents and hightailed out of the room without even a backward glance.

"I'm on mute," he told her before she could ask.

"_Another_ marital problem? What's wrong with hers?"

Christian shrugged, he wasn't planning on divulging that not because she shouldn't know about it as it was Ros's business but because he didn't want to admit that he had been rambling in her ears about their private issues lately like a girl.

There was a silence that was increasingly awkward with each second that he remained quiet, it was an even rarer occurrence between a couple who had been in a relationship for more than half a decade.

"What exactly is your problem?" She threw the card down on the desk slamming her palm down along as she demanded. "Is this your subtle way of expressing your dislike to my clinical trial, or simply a gesture to show that you don't care for my profession and career?"

"I'm not undermining anything about you, Ana."

"Then why didn't you change it?" She pouted at the cursive calligraphy that printed _Mr and Mrs Christian Grey_. There was no mention of her name or title, anywhere. "We agreed that I won't take your name, at least not legally. I don't mind being _called_ Mrs Grey I just don't want it in writing."

"This has nothing to do with you or your newly assumed role as an executioner."

"You know what my trial was about," she took great and personal offense at his description of her role as a doctor conducting an experimental lab."This invitation was sent to me, and it's for a fundraiser dedicated to me. You are my wife, so. naturally you're going to be my plus one. Unless you have _other obligations_ to attend to because you're clearly taking this way too personal."

"And now you're just being spiteful. I didn't ask you to judge me or my research, I only informed you to fulfill my duty since you are my sponsor. Technically, I am spending _our_ money."

"Exactly, which is why I am only _informed_ and not involved in any discussions leading up to this experiment. I wasn't told of anything until you needed the money."

"So you're upset that you didn't get to _sign off_ on it? My signature alone is enough to secure the budget but since I am _legally married_ to you, I told you about my larger expenditures out of _respect_."

She stared at him incredulously when he made no sound response, the anger and the glower from earlier were completely replaced by disappointment and sadness. There were no more fights in her, it was all she had been doing since he was let in on the idea when they had just obtained their marriage license.

They probably didn't even need a wedding wardrobe malfunction or some other imperfection to jinx their marriage, because their careers were already conflicting enough as it seemed.

For the past year since she joined the Swedish Medical Center's group of doctors off to Sweden for research, and her continued studies in neurology, she had been flying back and forth just to ensure a meeting between them occurred every other weekend. Legally married or not, she had been treating this relationship like a lifelong marriage and him as her husband since before their engagement.

However, the sweet, stable bubble bursted the moment she dropped the bomb about her latest project with Adam Hall, world renown neurosurgeon.

It wasn't the grand budget demand that Christian had an issue with, it was the content of the experiment. He had deemed the experiment unethical but she argued that any medical clinical trial would have unethical aspects.

"All I needed, wanted was a little support and reassurance from _you_. I didn't need you to sign off on the money because if you don't agree to fund it we can find other means."

"How can I support you when you are practically just killing _patients_ left and right?"

"I talked you through the process, and even allowed you to veto on the subjects. You knew the estimated datas, you were privy to all the information, so if you were so hellbent on talking me out of deliberately killing people that would be dead in a short matter of time anyway, why didn't you do so since the beginning? You dragged this conversation on and on, and each time you express a little more distaste to the trial, and now it's my career. What's next?"

"You're blowing this out of proportion."

She huffed, and maybe she was overreacting a little, but wasn't he the king of overreaction and exaggeration?

"I didn't veto shit. I suggested switching your experiment subjects from inmates to prisoners on death row," he scoffed. "Should I praise you because you said that participation would be voluntary? How's that any different from being an executioner? The entire notion of testing on prisoners is still being debated."

"We aren't putting them in any kind of pain. It would be like lethal injection which is an execution option," she argued back but that was exactly what she was trying to avoid. "Look, I already told you about my plan and if you have a more reasonable argument to convince me, I will go through with it. The trial begins in a month after this fundraiser."

"Then, you will be spending the majority of the time here in Seattle when I'm still in Baltimore. Why did we move across the country again? It's going to be just like last year. Both of us will be flying everywhere, and since we have estates practically all over the world, it really doesn't matter where we end up, right?"

"I showed up on your business trips last year, and we spend as much time together as possible."

He huffed, not remotely sold to her idea for even a second. "We spend more hours on the jet flying back and forth than actually _with_ each other. You say I travel too much so you took on that research project in Sweden, but I think you've been planning on going since long before the whole aftermath with the exes was settled."

"I never stopped you from travelling."

Her underlying tone suggested that he was stopping her from her trial, and that was an accusation that he wasn't going to accept even though it was beginning to look that way.

"Let's talk tomorrow, it'll be a rare Saturday that I'm free."

…

It wasn't even five in the morning—the usual mornings sans Anastasia—and someone's phone was ringing. It was on her nightstand which could only indicate that it was hers.

He rolled away from her onto his back and raised his arm to cover his eyes as he heaved out a long sigh. It was Saturday, and she promised him a full day together, and he should've known better than to hope for an entire uninterrupted day with her.

It was ironic how it used to be the other way around when she was the one begging him to take a day off so they could spend it together.

"Go," he whispered softly without even peeking an eye open to know that she was staring at him in that apologetic expression that used to tug on his heartstrings but not so much now.

"I'm really sorry," she leaned down and pecked his lips.

He nodded having anticipated that phrase already, and he didn't exactly want to see her face right now. He could imagine that look whenever he closed his eyes now, and that wasn't an image he'd like to keep. He also knew that if he had looked at her, he'd either fall for that look or get pissed, and he didn't want to know the outcome.

"I'll be quick, promise."

"Stop making promises, Ana, and just do it."

Her movements slowed and hesitated. That was a bit hurtful but she kind of feel like she deserved it after the last year, and her new clinical trial.

"Okay," she said in the smallest whisper and got off bed to get changed.

She opened the bedroom door and glanced back at the lone figure in bed; she was supposed to be there with him and they were supposed to be tangled up together because none of them had to work tomorrow. They could sleep in and have a lazy morning starting with brunch in bed. Before heading out, she returned to him and cupped his cheek as she gazed down at him closely and affectionately, with a lingering guilt and apology in them.

"I want to watch movies, eat takeouts, and bake with you when I get back. We've got the takeout place lined up since the last time, be ready."

He smiled at her softly almost turning into a grin, and she felt an involuntary tug on her lips. He wasn't asking for too much, he was just asking for her and her time, and it would be unreasonable of her to not grant him that wish. He was still skeptical but he didn't show it.

With one last feathery kiss on his lips, she departed.

The sky was still dark and the road was empty as she made her way over to the hospital that she used to work at—Seattle Northwest Hospital. She didn't even bother informing her bodyguard that she was leaving the premise wanting to believe that she could resolve whatever issue fast.

She wasn't a physician, and she usually would enter the ER pit unless she was summoned for a consult which would be rare.

Still, she walked through the double doors and headed to the pit to see what exactly was so urgent that they had to drag her out of bed at three in the morning.

She thought she was going to be met with some former colleagues and fellow attending, or residents at best, but the person that greeted her was no medical professional.

She was met with a guy that she found utterly familiar but couldn't name. Her brain was seemingly alarmed and working in high speed but there was still a jet lag somehow.

…

Christian groaned in utter annoyance when another phone began to ring, almost vibrating itself off of the night counter. He was prepared to curse Anastasia out when he shook himself out of his disoriented state and remembered that she had already left a couple of hours ago.

For once, he was able to fall asleep alone in bed and he had every intention of sleeping until his alarm to go for his morning run with Taco but the persistent ringing of his phone made him even grumpier than he already was.

"Grey," he snapped with as much energy he could muster in his current state. He hoped that whoever on the other side could detect the heavy sleepiness in his voice.

"Christian, it's your grandma Trevelyan."

That single statement alone was enough to make him bolt right up in bed and flicking on the lamp. His mind was still slow at putting the voice to its person but he knew whoever this was was someone very important to him.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked cautiously, the back of his mind still trying to figure out who this man was. It had to be his grandpa but for some reason he couldn't recognize the voice.

"She fell when she got up to go to the bathroom, and the EMT said she most likely had a stroke."

"Okay, which hospital is she at?"

"Actually, can you get Ana?"

"Uh, yes, yes. She'll be there but which hospital is she at right now?"

"Swedish Medical Center."

Christian hung up the phone and rushed to get dressed. He realized that he had no idea where Anastasia was and what emergency she was dealing with. She could be at any hospitals in Seattle right now, and he was only growing more and more frustrated when she wasn't picking up.

If she was next to him he would've been slightly calmer since she'd know what to do but as someone who rarely panics, he felt like he was panicking right now. It wasn't a good sign because he hadn't had a clear head since picking up the phone, and it was one of those days that he just couldn't get his mind to start working at full speed.

"Taylor!" He yelled in the top of his lungs probably inducing some kind of PTSD nightmare for the CPO rather than actually waking him up.

The man materialized still in his pajamas with his gun in hand and stopped in his tracks when he spotted the boss already dressed but not in his running gear.

"Track Ana's phone. I can't get ahold of her. She got a call a few hours ago and went in, but I don't know which hospital."

It was ironic how his family were now relying on his wife instead of his mother whom was actually the daughter and not the granddaughter in-law.

So much for a day in to chill and relax.

…

Anastasia stood in the ER pit and the background faded and so did the noises as she stared at the person standing in front of her trying to recall his name.

She came up blank.

So, instead of standing there gawking at him like a hawk which was more than unprofessional, she wetted her lips in an attempt to come up with a phrase, or a word, anything to show that she was still a fully functioning human being.

"I'm sorry," she blurted out. "Who are you?"

The young boy sighed and hung his head, he should've seen this coming. He was a victim to them through and through, and even though he should cut her some slacks with everything she had been through lately, he found himself enraged by her accidental ignorance.

"Isaac," he offered.

"Oh my- I'm- Isaac, wow." Anastasia stuttered, something she had never did in the hospital since she was an intern. "What are you doing here?" She asked slowly racking her brain trying to recall if they had any kind of conversation that had informed her of his purpose.

"I don't know why I'm doing this but here," he produced a bag of films and handed it to her.

"Why are you showing me this?" She took the bag and took out a page; a brain CT.

Lifting the bag up so she could read the information.

"These are yours?" She scrunched up her brows and looked at him in confusion because he could barely be twenty of age, and those brains looked way older than him.

"Used my name to keep it low profile," he explained when he saw that there was no fooling this doctor even though she was no neurology expert, she had been studying it for several years now.

"So, who's is this?"

He remained mute.

"My mother's."

…

Christian leapt out of the door before the car was fully stopped, and the door was slammed shut before Taylor could finish his sentence. He rushed to the front desk and demanded information on Adele Trevelyan, and was given the directions.

"Where's Ana?" That wasn't how he imagined he'd be greeted but in situations like this he guessed money wouldn't be the reliever. His grandparents were loaded, too.

He opened his mouth with no words coming out of it because he truly didn't know how to answer that very simple question. His next instinct was to yell for Taylor but the man was currently parking the vehicle that he so conveniently abandoned mere minutes ago.

"How is she?" When his brain sort of caught up with the circumstances, he asked, avoiding the question.

"Son, is there something going on between you and your wife?"

"No, why would you say that?" He defended instantly.

"You don't know where she is and you didn't arrive with her, that in itself is odd for you two."

"We… well, we had a rough year last year. Work," he grimaced at that pathetic excuse but that was all he was willing to offer because frankly, he wasn't even sure what exactly went wrong between them.

"We are worried about you."

His eyes widened as he took a seat on the other side of her bed. He had not a clue what her current state was but her eyes were closed and looked like she was asleep.

"They just wheeled her out of surgery but they hadn't ordered any tests on her. I said if it isn't urgent I'd like to wait until my granddaughter in-law gets here."

Christian nodded, he'd actually feel much calmer if she was here too. He needed her location, now!

"I'll call her," he nodded and exited the room only to be spotted by some doctor. He thought he was well known enough in Seattle but when they had to ask if he was Anastasia's husband, he knew that the doctors were in a completely different circle than the vast majority of the population.

He was proud to call himself her husband. So, why wasn't he suddenly unsupportive and not proud of her latest work? Was it really the issue with ethics or was it really because he just missed her all the time and wanted to spend more time with her by demanding her to cut back?

…

Anastasia's face fell immediately, and the films in her hand also dropped slightly in altitude upon hearing that response.

"Look," Isaac took a tentative step closer to her and leaned closer to her ear. She didn't flinch but she wasn't thrilled either. "I know that you're not a fan of my parents, Grace and Carrick Grey. You don't like them because of what they did to your husband and subsequently Elliot and Mia, and I am taking advantage of your passion toward neurology and medicine in general by coming to you, but the main reason why I flew all the way here was because of you."

"Me," she repeated with her eyes still glued to the scans. Instead of making her feel like she was an extraordinary medical doctor, the sheer fact of who he was related to made her feel used.

"They are very good to me. They gave me everything, and helped me out of my traumas."

She held back a scoff at the irony and her theory that they were probably only doing this to redeem themselves, in a sense. She just nodded.

"Wow," another voice from behind them interrupted whatever he was going to say next. "That's some big aneurysm."

"Uh huh, wanna operate on that?" She didn't have to turn around to know who was talking. She had been working with him since meeting him, and had been learning ample from him.

"I'd love to but that's not why I'm here."

She studied the films but the way he paused in the middle of a sentence told her everything that was unsaid. She lowered the films and slowly turned around to face him, her eyes narrowed in slits.

"You're here for my time."

He nodded with a sheepish smile.

"Another pro bono."

Another nod with a guilty grin.

"You do know that yours are always way over the budget right?"

"You're rich, you can fill in the blanks. That's why you married him, right?" He teased right back. "I mean, now you've got plenty of resources at your disposal."

"I don't need to marry that guy to get the money, Adam. He can make me a multi millionaire overnight if I just say the words before I even got into the program at Johns Hopkins. I know all the passwords to his accounts, I don't even have to say anything."

"Now you're just gloating."

"I am but it's your turn for the check. My husband and I contribute enough to this hospital's pro bono budget, and this isn't the only hospital we donate to."

"Okay, fine. I'll write the check if we need it, but are you in?"

"We will most definitely need it knowing you, and I need the charts."

"Yes!" Adam fist pumped the air and left. He knew she didn't marry Christian for the money, everyone did but it still wasn't public information that they were married in the first place. There was no announcement, no statement, not even a response to the wedding rumors in the papers.

A throat clearing reminded her of her unfinished business at hand, her eyes glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed at the time.

"You made them drag me out of bed for _this_?" She was very close to losing it and whatever respect she had left for the guy was now all gone. "You snuck out of the house in the middle of the night for a fucking _consult_ from the _wrong_ department!"

"No, I was hoping we could fly you over for the surgery."

"You're assembling a team of surgeons? It's just an aneurysm, anyone can do that. It's not even invasive."

"I know, and I understand the general procedure though this is a big one, the problem is… my mom—Grace—uh… she is allergic to anesthesia… like too many kinds."

…

"Are you seriously going to do it? And don't even tell me it's because of the money because trust me, we're seriously _loaded_."

Christian rambled next to her once he got her out of Northwest and into the car heading toward Swedish Medical Center. He didn't even get to update her on the condition of his grandma when her answers to his question completely derailed his line of thoughts.

He asked her what she had been doing not answer her phone, and she filled him in on everything, making sure that she was extremely pissed off about the fact that Isaac was making a big deal out of something small. The surgery was a must for Grace but it wasn't as urgent as grandma Trevelyan right now.

It most certainly didn't warrant a three AM call.

Family of patient's panicked easily when they were informed of complicated situations, or unusual ones that weren't mentioned in the books. They would do everything to seek help, and that would piss off a string of people on the way; and it wouldn't be their concern.

"If you're uncomfortable with me flying to Detroit, then no. It's up to you."

"You flying out to Detroit? Don't you think you've done enough flying in the past year to last you a lifetime?"

She turned her glare at him challenging him to repeat those words in her face while looking her in the eyes.

"Sorry, but I am uncomfortable with you going."

"Good, I'm not going then. It's settled."

"Then…" he wanted to know what she was going to do about Grace but he didn't want to come off like he cared about her because for all it was worth, she was worse than a stranger to him. Someone who betrayed him.

"I'm going to recommend someone for them, and I'm officially off the case, not that I was on it in the first place."

He relaxed against the leather seat and exhaled. That wasn't so hard.

"Now tell me about your grandma."

If they were thinking about how they missed their day in, they certainly didn't believe that it'd be a good time to say something as that thought lurked in the back of their minds.

Despite having heard him recounting all he knew, she still reached for her charts when they stepped into the room. As she flipped through them she could feel all eyes staring in her way, and her first thought was she had been rude to not offer them a greeting.

So, she redeemed that… which only made the atmosphere more awkward than it had to be at three in the morning.

"Gramps here just wants someone familiar with medical background present when they order tests on Grams." Christian jumped in when he detected that Anastasia was at a loss for words.

"Oh, yeah, sure. I'll be here. Do you want me to talk to cardio? Or the chief of surgery?"

"That'd be great, dear."

When Anastasia took the chart and left for the nurse's station Theo turned away from Adele and turned his hard stare on the grandson fiddling uncharacteristically at the end of the bed where Anastasia just left.

"Talk," he demanded.

"Gramps," Christian sighed defeatedly, he wanted to tell the old man off but he didn't want to come out disrespectful. "Please, not now. We are fine. Whatever it is we will work it through. It won't be the end of my marriage or my relationship, trust me."

"I do believe that but I'm going to play the sick spouse card right now, and say woe me because Adele is truly still asleep and I need to take my mind off her before I worry myself into one of those beds." He pointed at the beds across and down the hall. "Sit down and start talking."

The news about Grace was on the tip of his tongue and one slip would have him blurting the entire thing out; he couldn't say that, he couldn't add another worry and stress to their plate right now, he wanted to lessen the burdens on his shoulders. So, he in a split second of moment's panic, he chose to violate Anastasia's trust in him.

She had made it abundantly clear that he was not to even _speak_ about the trial, and yet here he was in an attempt to sooth his grandpa as he laid out everything he knew and his worries and concerns. All the while, Anastasia was running the tests and chasing after results for his grandma, talking to every expert she knew.

"Gramps, I need you to promise me that this won't go back to her, because I'm not supposed to be saying this to anyone."

Theo regarded the young man that he had always deemed remarkable carefully, there was something that was bothering him and it was new but Theo had no way of knowing unless Christian talked. So, for now, if that was the story Christian was selling, then Theo would happily buy it.

"You have my word."

Christian nodded, and his eyes turned back to his grandma whom he swore had saw movements a second earlier. He stared harder at the patient in bed waiting for her to give him another indication that she had woken up.

"Christian," Theo interrupted his staring, his brain hadn't stopped spinning since he was told of this latest experiment. "The clinical trial… it seems very… risky. What will they do to the subject once they succeeded? The patient survived only to be informed that you're still going to die but the date is postponed?"

Christian hadn't thought that far and he hadn't bothered to ask because the moment he was told of the experiment, red flags shot up in his brain and that took all of his attention. He moved his eyes from his grandma to his grandpa by her bed, half deciding that she was still in and out of consciousness.

"I haven't thought of that, honestly."

"I can tell," Theo said, his mind now fully occupied by this information.

"Gramps," he interrupted before the old man could conjure another question on a topic that he wasn't supposed to know in the first place. "Let's just drop it because remember, you're not supposed to know."

"Well, you need to tell that wife of yours that this experiment is too dangerous."

"I did, and that's how we end up in the situation we are currently in."

"All the traveling you two did in the past year also didn't help."

Christian nodded. "Right," he conceded, "distance was probably not healthy for our relationship," he said only to appease the old man and get him to actually drop this can of worms he opened.

"You two need to connect."

"We do," Christian agreed with his eyes turned back on Adele.

"No, I mean really _connect_, on a… deeper level."

Christian's eyes shot up with his head as he contemplated whether to hide the smirk or suppress the blush that were both threatening to surface.

He was saved from having to come up with a response when the door opened and medical professionals flooded in. Anastasia was among the crowd, and when Theo caught Christian's eyes, he threw him a murky wink.

Anastasia caught that tiny exchange and her eyes lingered on her husband to check his reaction and only held up the latest films in her hand when he turned to face her. She had no idea if she had got caught but knowing him, he probably knew that she had been eying him closely.

He always knew when she was watching him, and that was sexy, flirty, and played in their favor at the very beginning; they were the stolen glances. Nowadays… not so much.

When the lead physician presented the case to the rest of her colleagues, neither the patient nor the family understood a word from her while all the other doctors nodded their heads and took notes.

Simultaneously, Christian and Theo turned their attention to the only doctor that didn't work in this hospital.

"Adele had a hip replacement over a year ago, correct?" She explained to the laymen sat in there like deers caught in headlights. "She was given blood thinners to reduce or prevent blood clot from forming around the scar tissue that developed around the newly replaced hips, as the hips don't belong to the body naturally. The body rejects it automatically, hence the medicine she takes. However, clots still formed, and it seems like they have traveled along the femoral artery up to the carotid," she grabbed Christian by the shoulders and used him as a model as she gestured to the spots she was referring to. "The clot unfortunately lodged in a blood vessel that supplies to the brain, hence making the brain stroke out."

"So, what now?" Theo asked after digesting this new piece of information. It was an explanation he could accept. Logical with a cause-effect relationship.

"They are going to test to see if she's allergic to the iodine dye that we're going to inject for an angiogram," Anastasia explained and the doctors around the bed moved as one stepped out with a kit. She conveniently lifted her hand so they were over Christian's eyes before he could see the needle on the syringe materialize. "We want a clearer look on the blood vessels, and if the vessels have narrowed like shown on the CTs, then we're going to consider adding a stent to your narrowed artery."

By this time, Adele was fluttering her eyelids struggling to open them. Theo's grip on her hand tightened with silent encouragement and Anastasia unshielded her hands from Christian's eyes where his blinked a few times to adjust.

He leaned closer to her instinctively, and moved a hand up the back of her leg as if to thank her for not letting him send himself into a panic attack from the idea of seeing a needle. Her hand rested on his shoulders, and squeezed them back lightly as if she had received the message.

It was the smallest exchange but those gestures were enough to assure the couple that they could get over this, it would be just another bump down the road.

"Welcome back," Anastasia smiled warmly down at the patient in bed, leaning over Christian's shoulder putting some weight on him. "How are you feeling, Adele?"

The team of doctors filed out of the room quietly leaving the patient with her family, when they closed the door behind them, they could see Anastasia bent over the bed trying to listen to her words.

She straightened her back and explained everything to her. "We are going to run an angiogram on you after you are cleared with the dye, and we will decide if the surgery is required. Other than that, you are very lucky that Theo found you and got you here so soon. The clot has been completely removed but new clots are forming as we speak so you will be prescribed some meds to help with the clotting. Your speech is fine," she concluded as she continued to run a very few basic exams.

Walking to the end of the bed, she updated the chart, this time oblivious to the exchange between the grandson and grandparents.

"Can I have a speak to Christian, alone?" Adele requested, her voice still a little rough but overall pretty well for someone who had just had a stroke that was severe enough to be fatal.

Anastasia nodded, "I will go check in with the physicians and ask if I can scrub in or just observe."

Adele didn't understand a single word but she nodded nonetheless. She had no idea what was actually going on, she just knew that she had a stroke and all the other medical jargon whatnot slip past her the instant they were spoken.

"I heard you," she turned to Christian, taking a deep breath to prepare for a speech.

"You were awake this whole time?"

"Maybe not, but I could listen, and I overheard your conversation with Gramps," she gasped weakly for air and waved them off when they hovered over in an attempt to check her. "She was there when you were ready to give it all up, and I don't believe you have thanked her properly for it."

"Grams…"

She glared at her and so did Theo. Her for not understanding what she was trying to convey, and him for interrupting.

"She just wants your support. She didn't question it when you went along with that dead old witch's stupid plan thinking you could outsmart her, she was simply there for you. She moved heaven to hell for you and you couldn't give her some moral support?"

"This isn't about what happened to me, this is about her experiment." Christian protested, and Theo couldn't help but agree, the only reason stopping him from speaking up was Adele's current state.

"You'd be surprised what a simple acknowledgement of their work will do to us women."

…

What he wanted was to spend more time with her, and if he had thought about this earlier, he would've realized that by supporting her and talking about the clinical trial with her, in a way, he was spending quality time with her.

If he played his cards right, they could be doing more than talking each time.

He opened the door to a tail wagging Taco whom instantly had his eyes set on the gigantic bag of takeout in his hand. If he thought his dog would ever be this happy to see him it would probably be the time when he was the dog's next meal.

"Tucks, hi," he chuckled even though the dog barely glanced at him, all he did was sniff in his direction perfunctorily as a greeting. "Mommy would be offended if that's your attitude," he ruffled Taco's thick coat but the dog barely paid him any attention as his nose followed the bags to the kitchen.

Christian took out the contents and spread them on the coffee table which was actually significantly shorter than their dog.

"You better not wrap your teeth around any of these, or else you won't be getting any bread buns in the morning before Mommy got up."

Of course, Taco's tail only wagged quicker but it wasn't because of what he said.

"Taco, come here," he called. "Taco!" That was when he finally had the hound's attention, but only for a split second before they returned to salivating over the food on the table.

"Come on, buddy, enough. You'll get the bone, okay? Deal?"

Taco walked over wiggling his ass on the way looking like he had just seen his dinner plate. Even the dog knew he was dreaming but he was still optimistically hoping that those food were for him, like he did every time they ate at the coffee table.

"Is that Ana?" Christian pointed at the door when he heard the faint ding of the elevator coming through the front door that was left ajar on purpose. "Ana?" He repeated, the name ringing a bell to the dog as he cocked his head, his experience turning serious as he deciphered the sound.

"The door, go!" He ushered, and Taco sprinted over to the door, his paws slipping at every step he took. Christian watched after him fearing for his fearless pet of an impending fall.

"Tucks, hey, baby! Did you miss me?" He could picture his wife on her knees with her face buried in the puppy's neck as she ran her fingers through his fur.

He heard the squeal before he saw her walking through to the kitchen, then to the living room to see movies laid out beneath the large TV screen, and takeout covering the entire surface of the glass table.

"It's almost midnight, Christian."

"I never truly expressed my appreciation to what you've done for me, and I wasn't trying hard enough to make time for us, so I don't care if it's in the crack of dawn just as long as you're here enjoying _our_ time together doing whatever we feel like. I'm in for your trial. I am really proud of you, baby."

Warmth spread through her heart, her hand reached down to pet Taco's head complying to its request as she processed the words. He patted the empty space next to him on the carpet inviting her over.

She scooted closer to him and snuggled into his side. Taco followed and stepped in between them carelessly, walking all over their limbs just to get in between them so he could use his nose to nudge them apart rudely, and then plant himself in their lap as if they were part of the carpet.

"Ow! Taco!" Anastasia protested, swatting the dog over his shoulders but Tucks barely moved a fur, he only licked his mouth and shifted his head to Christian's thigh, effectively cutting off his circulation making his leg numb in an instant.

"Yeah, Tucks!" Christian echoed, nudging him with his knee but the dog only responded with a slight raise of his head pretending to be confused, and laid it back down as if to say, _oh get over it humans_.

They turned to each other after both noticing how fruitless their protests were to their pet hound, and broke out in to a fit of laughter over its expense.

She leaned closer to him, and captured his lips with hers.

"I wouldn't be where I am today without you, either."

_Fire on fire, would normally kill us  
With this much desire, together, we're winners  
They say that we're out of control and some say we're sinners  
But don't let them ruin our beautiful rhythms  
'Cause when you unfold me and tell me you love me  
And look in my eye  
You are perfection, my only direction_

* * *

_**Christian618**_** if you still remember what you PMed me a long time ago, it's coming up next, and I hope you'll like it.**

**_Jatzygirl_ I still remember your latest PM, and I hope this tiny bit helps? I will try to include more Taco time in the next chapter that also deals with the hospital.**

**And, don't give up on me and 24, I am still working on the sequel.**

**X**


	61. Outtake 7

**Outtake #7**

* * *

**_You Raise Me Up_**

SEPTEMBER 2018

Taco trotted next to Anastasia and Sawyer as they made their way down the empty street heading toward the same destination that they'd be every single morning as long as they were in Baltimore. Taco would always point his nose up high as he sniffed in the scent coming from the fresh baked breads. Sometimes, he liked running with Anastasia better than Christian because she had a slower pace allowing him to play around more but whoever took him out would always end up in this very bakery where they could be just regular customers instead of important people in their respective careers.

He picked up a fallen tree branch between his teeth like he did every day with Christian before they turned the corner to the small bakery, and when the storefront was in sight, he could barely contain his excitement. Taco obediently followed Anastasia to the door but before she could open it, he bursted inside shoving the door open with his head.

There was already someone at the cashier, and Anastasia walked behind him still trying to call for Taco just so she could have him wait outside but the dog was on a mission.

Anastasia thought it was strange to see her usually shy puppy to be so familiar with a place, and so confident in what he was doing. Like he knew it was right because he did it every day.

She watched after realizing that calling for her dog would only embarrass herself.

Taco stood before the cashier and dropped the wooden stick onto the counter, almost on the purchases the previous man had just made. That was way more embarrassing than not having your careless dog on a leash, and she tugged at Taco's collar to pull him back while apologizing to the man before her.

The man waved it off and patted Taco's head as if they knew each other. Anastasia watched in confusion but she didn't say anything as she rarely entered this store, it was usually Christian who'd come in the mornings to get them bread.

"Just wait here, Mrs Grey," the cashier said before Anastasia could rattle off her order. She frowned slightly, did Christian bribe them or something?

Taco's tail wagged quicker as he watched the woman behind the counter take the stick and add it to the pile in the corner with similar sticks, then retrieving a misshaped bread bun handing it over to him.

The dog took it in his mouth, and happily trotted out of the store to find Sawyer. The pride was evident in the dog's eyes as he carried it away.

Anastasia watched the dog go and lay down next to Luke's feet as they waited for her. She was just about to apologize to the cashier but she got interrupted once again.

"Don't worry about him. Taco's here every morning, and we'd always save a bad shaped bun for him. I think your husband taught him that he needs something to _buy_ it." She then pointed at the pile of sticks. They were apparently Taco's payments.

"What do you do with those then?"

"We can put them in the fire. Don't worry, Taco is adorable. Everyone loves him, and he usually doesn't approach customers."

Anastasia took her purchase and took the receipt that contained the charges on their tab from the last month.

It wasn't surprising to her that the tip was higher than she'd expected. She could only guess Christian had made some extra payment or gave the bakery some extra benefit for them to be so lenient to her dog.

She didn't like it though, it made her feel privileged and she didn't want to be one of those rich ass brats who thought that if they were entitled to everything, their pet dogs should too.

…

As much as he hated the hospital, Christian still made an effort to show up with takeouts each Saturday when she worked. He now realized that if he wanted to see her, he would have to force her to make time by showing up in her face constantly. She would've been doing the same, and she had been when he traveled for a long business trip. It was also why they had such a high arial gas bill.

"Is he a donor?" He heard as he approached the group of physicians currently standing near the nurse station outside of a patient's room surrounding a chart.

"He's a John Doe, there's no way of knowing."

Christian visibly flinched at the harshness that was the reality. He used to appreciate that his lover was seen as the guardian angel for the patients, because she certainly was his, but seeing how many areas she was actually involved in… that brought on a whole other perspective.

Once the groups dissolved in different directions, he approached her.

"Are _you_ an organ donor?" He flattened his palm over the small of her back over her lab coat and guided her to the nearest empty conference room. He had his fair share of experiences here in Johns Hopkins that he really didn't want to say he was proud to know every room there was on each floor of the surgical unit.

Anastasia eyed him weirdly. "Where did that come from?" Her brain briefly snapped back to the time when they had to take out her IUD because it dislodged after her period cramps were being diagnosed as an ecotopian miscarriage.

It was a shock to the both of them but that didn't push them to broach the subject of offsprings as they were both too busy with work.

"Just answer me."

"Yes, I am. I thought you knew, it's indicated on my driver's license. I know you aren't."

He pressed his lips together. He didn't like it. He didn't like the thought of parts of her floating around other people's body after she no longer physically existed in this world. The thought of her dying one day already saddened him and he didn't even want to think about it, but all the talks about organ donation got to him.

"I don't want you to be a donor."

He stated as he laid out the food as if he was just filling her in on work, but she was frozen in the seat she just sat down in.

"Christian, that's not your decision."

He was quiet as he phrased his response but it was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Dr Steele, there's someone here for you."

Christian opened his mouth to yell at the nurse in reflex but Anastasia standing up stopped him, momentarily confusing him since he thought she wouldn't want the interruption either.

_Was showing up in her face still not enough?_

She peeked out through the blinds and her body went stiff. She walked back to him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder while looking him in the eyes with the greatest regret and remorse he had seen from her for a long time, if ever.

"Christian, I am so sorry."

…

"Kevin," she smiled at the visitor rather awkwardly. "Hey, what are you doing here?" When the man opened his arms, she took an involuntary step back, and settled for a hand shake but even that felt unnecessary.

"Lucy," the man gestured and a girl in her early teens stepped around Kevin's leg. She was thin and pale, and a little small in size for a girl her age. "You remember Ana?"

Anastasia could feel the heated glares from her husband searing through the window and right into her skull, or throwing daggers at Kevin but she knew it could only get worse after he learned Kevin's true identity.

She bent down and greeted the girl, she was one of the reason why she kept it a secret. She didn't want to be in the young child's life knowing she'd leave one day. So, every time she was put on the spot and forced to be in her presence, she drilled it into her mind that she was merely a friend of hers, and of her daddy's.

"You need to finish eating lunch first, Ana."

The air couldn't be more thick and tense right now, and judging by the rigidness of her movements, she felt it the most.

"Kevin, this is my husband, Christian Grey." And vice versa, she introduced them hiding the nervousness as best as she could.

"Mr Grey, you made quite a name for yourself at such a young age." Kevin praised, ignoring the harsh squeeze of his hand during the shake, and the hostile glower from his eyes. He could almost hear a growl from deep within his throat if he was close enough.

"Dr Marlow."

Christian nodded sharply and said nothing. He stood behind her and waited for them to resume their conversation. Kevin darted his eyes between the couple as if silently wondering whether he was going to have to talk to more people than necessary.

"How… can I help you?" Anastasia gave up on the silent battle of wills against her husband and decided to just ignore his very presence, and if Kevin had expressed a clear discomfort in discussing whatever medical history he or young Lucy may have in front of Christian, she'd shoo him away.

"You know that Lucy's adopted from her birth mother." Anastasia nodded recalling that conversation when she was first introduced to the young girl who couldn't be more than five at the time. "Lucy needs a bone marrow transplant."

"Oh! What? Why?" Anastasia fired off questions as she tried to wrap her mind around the declaration. Despite her bad blood with the man himself, she still had a decent rapport with the little girl. "Has she been admitted?"

"She's been admitted for pneumonia, but this is a recurrence of the illness. She refused to stay in her bed when she could still move around because she usually feels better after the antibiotics."

Anastasia's eyes landed back on the little girl whom she just noticed was in the hospital gown.

"You think it's some kind of immunodeficiency disease that caused it?"

"The tests are pointing in that direction but we are still waiting for more results. I've spoken to everyone here, and I mentioned that you were a student of mine, I hope that's okay with you."

Her eyes bugged out at that presumption, she felt Christian straightening his back behind her and his entire body tensing up. This was not looking good.

"Uh… yeah, it's fine. I'll see what I can do. Have you found a donor for the transplant?"

"We contacted her birth mother, and she said she'll drop by to take a test to see if she's a match. She should be here any minute."

Anastasia's mind was screaming at her about anything and everything, it was absolute chaos as she tried to force it to digest the new information. Her demeanor remained calm on the outside and professional, but the presence of a very angry Christian wasn't helping her inner chaos.

"Let me know when she gets here, I still need to finish my lunch."

That was probably the lamest excuse she had ever used to a patient, actually an excuse that she had never dreamt of using, ever, in the hospital. For now, it gave her an exit as she scurried off.

…

"You can't take on this case," he said the instant the door closed behind them and the blinds drawn. Her eyes landed on the lunch behind him expressing that she wanted to get to that, but he took it as her trying to avoid this talk with him, so his stance became more rigid blocking her way

He glared at her daring her to argue, but she dared. He could act all caveman like at home in bed, but not while she was at work. He may be a huge benefactor to the hospital and its board but she would not allow him to abuse his power to dictate what she did in her job.

"What do you mean _I can't take on this case_?"

"You can't work with him. You knew him from before and there's obviously something between you two, and then there's the daughter that you knew so well."

"I'll admit that we had a history, and he was my professor when we met."

He narrowed his eyes at her sensing there was something more to it.

"If you want every sordid details of our past then I can tell you at home but right now, in this hospital, you don't get to tell me what case I can take on and what I cannot!"

"You're not even a surgical physician, what can you possibly do to help? You can't even make a diagnosis. You wearing… this" he gestured her from head to toe "around him is just only going to make him want you more."

"I'm in my scrubs, and the coat is just something I have to put on to greet patients unless I'm getting ready for surgery." She scowled at him suddenly feeling like the man before her was slowly resolving back to the old him from when he was going through his darkest moments.

"When you told me that you had two men before me, I didn't bother to ask for details because I knew they were nothing like us, but now with one rubbing his very presence in my face is something entirely different. Besides, the guy is like at least twice your age. I deleted that background check I ordered on you because you didn't want me to dig around."

"Yes, you could've asked. You never asked about my past before you, so I never offered because that really is meaningless just like your past relationships. Only difference is your past came back physically, but mine didn't."

"Until now."

"He didn't haunt us like yours did. If we're really going to argue about our histories with other people then there really is no point for us to talk at all."

"Don't take the case."

"Again, why not?" She sighed lowering her voice when his softened a fraction.

"We're due in Seattle tomorrow morning because of the fundraiser, and your trial is beginning in a week and you'll have to be in Seattle for that, too. So, there's no time for you to stay on this case, unless you plan on flying back and forth."

"The fundraiser is at night, and I don't have to go just because I am married to you. I am a physician first."

That was spiteful but she didn't care because he was being unfair right now. She could take jealousy and the caveman behavior, but to tell her how she should dedicate her time was him exercising control to a whole new level.

"You just want to prove something. You know it and I know it."

"Don't tell me you didn't choose your ambition over me."

"I've never chosen anything or anyone over you."

"I told you about Rodriguez Sr because you're my boyfriend, and don't tell me you didn't use that information to your advantage in obtaining the mass fortune."

"You chose killing people over saving them, and how's mine even comparable to yours?"

"Those people _chose_ to sacrifice themselves. You don't get to call me ambitious. I took advantage of you since the very first time we met, and I didn't _choose_ to kill people, that is just part of the process of saving more."

"You made a choice, and you used my name to make it happen, to get over the hurdles, and now you're going to choose him over me."

"I'm not choosing him over you! I gave up an awake aneurysm procedure for you because you don't want me in Detroit, and now you're accusing me of being ambitious? You had, and always have the bigger vocation between us, so no, you don't get to call me ambitious and you to berate me for working with my ex-professor."

"Who also happens to be someone you've had a sexual relationship with for over three years."

She huffed, there was a story—a reason—behind the history but all he could see right now was red. It would be a waste of energy for her to explain that right now.

"You don't get to play the victim here, Christian. You're jealous, I get it, but there's no need to feel insecure. For fuck's sake, I wore my rings today of all days. I usually don't wear them to work and you know it because I'll have to constantly remove them and risk losing them down the drain."

Showing him the rings sitting on her ring finger, she side stepped him and went back to her lunch. Whatever he had in mind, he was going to save it until later because right now, she was in no mood to listen to him bullshit.

"Why did you let Taco enter the bakery?" She changed the subject, or resumed a conversation. Whichever it was, she just wanted to end the silence, it was getting weird.

"There's air conditioner, and he gets too warm in the summer after a run so he needs to cool off. Then in the winter, it's too cold to let him stay outside, especially if I have to wait for my order."

"You encouraged him to put his paws up on their counter? The very same counter where people put their bread? That's not very considerate."

"I didn't encourage him, and people put their plates on the counter, not the actual food."

"Still, you're not being a very good citizen. The only reason why no one has yelled at you is because you're rich and famous."

He shrugged as he continued to chew on his mouthful of food.

"Christian, Taco's going to scare someone some day. He's a big dog, and super hyper all the times."

"But he didn't. He's never scared anyone, he's scared of everyone himself."

"It's not polite. You don't see other people bringing their dogs into the bakery."

"It's not like he spends the entire morning inside that shop. We come and go, it's a quick process, and he's only in for the bread. That has his attention so he won't be scaring other people."

She shook her head, she still didn't like it. She thought it was wrong but she didn't exactly do much today to stop the dog's behavior either. She didn't want to confuse the dog and now she was the one confused.

She stood up with her empty plate and dumped in the bin before heading to the door. Her hand on the handle stopped mid-twist and turned back to him mimicking her earlier actions.

"We had been good lately, since Adele got sick but what brought this on today?"

"Maybe we're just going through the motions that we thought would make us feel closer. Even the sex this morning felt different."

"It did. What happened?"

"I don't know. I'll pick you up tonight to the airport."

She never had any intention of attending the stupid fundraiser when all she could do was stand there and look pretty and smile, it was a waste of time. Still, she attended without fail before, and this time, the only reason why she was resisting was out of spite.

She opened her mouth to tell him that she wasn't going to show up, but instead, she stepped forward and pecked his lips, and smoothed his suit and tidied his tie for him.

"Tell me about Marlow tonight on the flight."

He left with a demand hanging in the air, and that was just so typical of him when he felt like he was losing control or having competition fighting for her affection. It was unfair of him to take it out on her when his exes had been haunting her since she started dating him.

She wasn't going to Seattle until the beginning of her clinical trial, and all she had to do was find a way to tell him that.

…

When she walked out of the office, she saw Addie walking past the door and caught up to her.

"I was just heading over to Dr Marlow's daughter's room, I had no idea you two are friends."

"Me neither," Anastasia muttered under her breath but shook her head when Addie gave her a questionable look as if she thought she had heard wrong.

"He _is_ like the god of pain management. You've read _the_ book right?"

"Yes, I help write it but he never gave me credit." Which was another thing that became a deal breaker for her. She was the one that did all the research and compiled all the data, and presented to him. It was also her idea to conduct the research in the first place, yet her name wasn't even mentioned as a research assistant.

It was one thing for people to think that she was spending so many time with the professor because she was sleeping with him, but a whole other when he refused to give her the credit she deserved because he didn't want to favor her.

He said she was just a resident then, and that made her a baby.

"You did? Oh my god, Steele. Now I completely understand why you belong in the OR and not bound to a desk."

Anastasia laughed along and shrugged. The only reason she gave up the position as Chief of Anesthesiology wasn't because of the paperwork. Being the Chief was a desk job, and that meant less hours in the OR. If she didn't have to sacrifice her surgical hours, and the cases she could take on, she wouldn't mind doing administrative work.

She had worked before as a none on-call physician but between Christian's earth-shattering merger that shocked the entire world, and the increased frequency in his travels, she had decided to take up more time in the hospital until she was due to Sweden.

Christian hated her round-the-clock schedule at the time, but he was never at home long enough for them to have a proper discussion. So, they brought that problem to Sweden, and they somehow found ways to navigate around their long work hours.

Their main concern for their relationship at this current stage wasn't anything substantial like making impossible demands the others could not fulfill. It was the fact that they didn't even communicate all that much anymore. Whenever they did, it was something mundane and nothing resolving.

"Someone reported a case of alcohol abuse among us, were you aware of that?"

"I've heard rumors but no." Her interest peaked and she was happy that they were no longer talking about the professor that she used to sleep with.

"A resident was drunk in an OR, and got kicked out. It happened last week."

"I wasn't paged. I had the residents take over the majority of the surgeries last week."

"They asked another resident to step in, and he got an earful from his attending, then the attending reported to me."

"It's good that it's not an attending. Who's surgery was it?"

"Copeland."

"The trauma surgeon?"

Addie confirmed with a single nod.

"Oooh, brutal. He's a recovering alcoholic, and he's not had a relapse in half a decade, and now this newbie comes in and rubs it in his face. Oof, yeah I can see how that went down."

"If it was an attending no one would've said a thing, but since he's resident, and Copeland sniffed it out himself."

"That is bad. Did you suspend him?"

"He quit."

"The resident?"

"Yup, and it was only his first year. Dude wasted four years on med school only to quit under the taste of being under stress."

"_And_ this class of residents are gossipy and dramatic. They're apparently all fans of Grey's Anatomy and guess what, of all the things they took out from the show, they chose to focus on smoothing over their personal life."

"I know, I've seen it, and that is precisely why I always eat lunch with you whenever possible, or else I'd be hiding in the office to eat alone. These people always come to me for the smallest, most insignificant issue like they hadn't been trained to solve problems themselves. It wasn't even case related since they fight over cases in the first place."

"Which is why we, the attending, will be in the OR this time instead of rounding on them every now and then. They tend to give too low a dose, or some give too high for a kid. They're not reliable and trustworthy at this point. The most I'm doing is taking fourth year residents."

The chatter continued as they made their way to the private room dedicated to the little girl.

"Oh, it seems like the our donor is here," Addie announced cheerfully and Anastasia automatically plastered a smile on her face until her eyes landed on the donor—the birth mother.

She swallowed thickly, her eyes darting between Kevin, Lucy, and… her best friend, Kate.

The little girl was sound asleep, and Kate was seated in a chair in the corner of the room out of the girl's sight.

"Dr Marlow," Addie thrusted out her hand to introduce herself to her idol but Kevin's eyes landed back on Anastasia's after a few words exchanged.

"Let's bring this outside, shall we?" Anastasia cleared her throat to clear away the stammer that she saw coming and gestured to the sleeping girl before they all took a step out.

"How are her labs?" Kevin asked immediately expecting an answer from Anastasia but she had her eyes on her Chief.

"Hey," Kate nudged softly and said in her ear interrupting her from listening to the report. "Can I talk to you?"

They excused themselves and she pulled her aside, Anastasia sporting a deep and confusing frown.

"You had a daughter?!"

"I got knocked up when I was fifteen, and almost got disowned by my parents but I managed to get in an exchange program in another state that year, so I had the baby without them knowing and gave it up for adoption."

"You never told me."

"That's because we met later, and I didn't think it'd be necessary. So no one knows."

"Does Elliot know?"

"No! I just said no one knows!"

"Are you going to tell him?"

"No, of course not. You know Malcolm's back."

"And what does that have to do with anything… ooh, Kate… this is not good. You're actually hesitating between a Grey and a Dom?"

"They're both architectures, I guess I do have a type after all."

"This is not funny, Kate!" She wanted to yell at her friend for even doubting for a second that Elliot wouldn't make a better partner in life. She didn't know Malcolm that well but her experiences with people from the BDSM community was generally not entirely pleasant, and she didn't know what Malcolm wanted out of a relationship but it certainly wouldn't satisfy Kate in the long term.

She was sure of that.

"I don't know. I told them if they want to date me they'll have to give me time to make a choice."

"You are going to date them both?"

Kate shrugged. "Seems like it."

"Whatever your choice is, Kate, I think you should tell Elliot. Tell him before Christian does because I cannot guarantee what comes out of a person's mouth when they're blind drunk and with their siblings."

"You're telling Christian? What about patient confidentiality?"

"You're not my patient, and he's my husband. Besides, Elliot is your friend and Malcolm isn't ever your friend. You and Elliot go way back and you two had a much more easy going relationship, so tell someone to get it off of your shoulder."

"Maybe I will. I don't know, what should I say to him anyway? I mean he kind of is a friend to me and we do share things but this is just… I don't know, too intimate or private?"

Anastasia shrugged, she still believed that Kate should talk to someone, and she thought Elliot was the best option. Also, she secretly wanted Kate to choose Elliot and by confiding in him she might realize that he'd make a much better partner to her than Malcolm would ever be.

"Did you know that she was your daughter when I showed you the pictures after I told you about Kevin?"

"I had an inkling but I told myself that it was impossible, so I stopped looking for similarities."

"I told you his name, and you didn't know?"

"I thought this is his own kid because his wife is blonde, like me."

"You knew that he was married and you didn't tell me?"

"I thought he got a divorce or something."

"I showed you pictures of the man, and you pretended that you didn't know him? When you knew all this time?"

"You said it was nothing serious so I brushed it off. You never had feelings for him or dated him, you were only sleeping with him because-"

"Yes," she cut her off before she could say it, she dreaded to hear it aloud as it only reminded who she was before. "It would've made everything more complicated, I can see that… I guess I can understand. So, are you a match to Lucy?"

"Yeah, and I talked to Kevin. Lucy didn't want to see me."

"You two talked about me didn't you?"

"A little but I didn't tell him much. He mostly asked about you and Christian."

"I knew it."

"He said Christian's changed you, that you're not the marrying type…"

"Or else I would've married him," she finished the sentence that Kate trailed off at the end. "I know. I've heard him say that before but I never held any feelings for him. I was very clear in what I wanted from him and he didn't agree to my later requests, so that was it."

"Listen, Ana," Kate shifted on her feet nervously. "I will understand that if you want off the case but I don't know what goes on in a bone marrow transplant, I only know that it's considered a surgery, and if it's a surgery then I'd like you to be there."

"You'd be under general anesthesia, Kate. You might feel soreness or pain in the area where the needle has been but otherwise, it should be a routine procedure."

She pleaded with her eyes.

"Why did you agree to this?"

"Because I made a choice when Kevin called me. I could've made an excuse and told him that I had to be somewhere for my job, but I also made a silent promise that I'd be there for her should her need any help from me."

Anastasia listened at that heartfelt speech from her, a rare occurrence in the years that she had known her friend.

"I chose her, Ana. So, will you be there for me?"

She reached out and squeezed her hand giving her an affirmative nod.

"Call me when they scheduled you in."

…

She pushed the door open slowly and as quietly as possible hoping that she wouldn't be walking in on another conference. Monica's heels cluttered against the marble floor in her direction after coming out of another office, offering her a smile and a small wave. She pointed to the lounge and silently asked if she needed any refreshments. Anastasia just shook her head and smiled back politely.

When the door was fully opened instead of seeing her husband at his usual spot, she was greeted by a cool, wet nose nudging up and down the back of her hand.

"Taco! Hey, honey!"

She entered the room and was instantly greeted by cushions scattered all over the floor, the couch left bare, and Taco didn't even miss the small rectangular pillow on Christian's chair.

"Boy, does Daddy know that you've been here all the time playing around with cushions?"

His tail wagged wildly as he followed his owner to each pillow and watched her pick them up.

She rearranged the pillows and sat down on the couch knowing that Christian would be back here soon, Monica would've alerted him of her presence as soon as she entered the room. She patted the space between her and the arm inviting the pup up, and he leapt.

"Down boy," she giggled while ordering the dog as he tickled her with his nose and tongue, his feet cramped up in the small space and his tail wiggling off the couch. The more she giggled and tried to push him away, the happier and giddier he was at his attempts.

"Taco!" She laughed but this time repeated the instruction louder. "Down," she pressed down on his back sending him a physical reminder.

The dog settled down in her lap and she thought she could stay in this position as she caressed his ears, and played with his fur while she waited for Christian. However, the moment Taco sensed movement outside of the room, he charged at the door ready to welcome whoever was behind it.

"You've been a good boy, Tucks?" He ruffled his hair and he wagged his tail in response, proud that he received a praise though technically it wasn't, but it felt like it and that was the only thing that mattered.

His eyes followed Taco as he trotted back to the sofa where he noticed her just then.

"Ana, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be busy in surgery or something. I was going to drop by the hospital later." He walked over and took a seat next to her as Taco laid down next to their feet.

"I had a physical relationship with Marlow for three years when I was his student. I started sleeping with him when I found that he was conducting a research that I'm interested in but at the time he didn't allow any residents or any of his pupils to help."

Christian's face turned visibly green at the thought of her using sex to get into a program. He knew the stress medical students were under and the competitiveness of the field that she was in, especially she was in Seattle and a big hospital. Everyone was eager to prove themselves.

"After I got in on the research, I helped him with his report then the publications; the book, the articles in scientific journals. I wrote the reports—everything. In the end, I wasn't even mentioned in it. He just took my ideas as their own."

"How did it end?"

"There are three main reasons. There's always been a nagging thought in my mind that I should probably end this before it gets complicated, but I never did anything because in some subtle ways, he _did_ favor me and it was what I wanted at the time because I could learn more."

"Just get on with the reasons, I really don't care about the stories, it's only making me angrier."

"Sorry."

He accepted and gestured her to carry on, resisting the urge to touch her and pull her in his lap so he could hold her. He had already planned on swinging by the hospital on his way to the airport because he had came to his senses.

"He introduced me to his daughter—adopted daughter—and then told me that he had a wife but they're separated."

"He was married?"

"Still is. He _is_ married, and he never even thought to tell me. Although I didn't do anything detrimental to his already failing marriage, I didn't want to get involved in all the family drama so I ended it. That was one of the deal breakers for me."

"What are the other two?"

"He didn't give me credit in his research. It was a huge discovery and yet, he neglected my name. I was the one that contributed the most to this and all he said to me was that since I was still a resident, so I was just a baby, that I didn't know better."

"Son of a bitch."

"The last reason is that he wouldn't give me the money for my own research so there really is no use sleeping with him. It wouldn't get me anything anymore, so why bother sucking up to a married asshole."

"The money for your research, when was that?" He knew from that look on her fact that he wasn't going to like the answer, and he had an idea what it would be about already, but for some reason he still wanted to hear her say it.

"It was the year 2012…"

"When did you end things with him?"

"Late 2011, or the summer of that year. I started working in a bar to save up because my residency only pays so much, and I've also got my student loans sitting there even though it'd be beneficial for me to invest elsewhere instead of paying the debt. I was desperately in need of money, a sponsor, for my research. I only got Marlow to sign off on the proposal but that was all I got from him before I left him."

He shuddered. She met him a year after she broke up with that shitty professor, and he thought her two sexual experiences were few and far apart.

It was a _three_ year relationship. That did not sit well with him.

"Why did he come to you about his daughter?"

"He came to Johns Hopkins, and I just so happens to work there. I was going to say fuck it and go seek him out in person that year but then I met you, so I didn't go through with the plan. I had been thinking about it all night that night."

"Did you ever think, even for a flicker of second, that you could've gotten the money from me if you sleep with me?"

"No, I didn't even consider asking you for the cash. Sure I thought about sleeping with you but I never thought about using you. Mainly because I had no idea what might come in my way if I took advantage of you."

He cracked a laugh at that brutally honest statement. "What was your first impression of me?"

"I thought we've had this conversation before? I told you I'd jump your bones if you didn't appear to be so… mysterious."

"You told me you'd not see me as a friend if I had been more normal, like an average guy in the street or in a bar."

"I stand by my statement."

"Well, guess what? I thought about sleeping with you to use you for my publicity. I still went through with the plan but I only executed it as the toned down version. You know, without the sleeping part."

"You didn't want to sleep with me?"

"No, I do but I also want to be your friend."

"What were you going to do in the hospital when you said you're going to swing by earlier? I thought you dreaded hospital visits."

"I was going to tell you that you didn't have to come to the fundraiser with me. You might have a surgery and I completely understand that your work does come first."

"Okay," she quipped quietly. "Thank you for understanding."

She climbed in his lap with his assist and straddled him, feeling him poking up at her center making her giggle. She wiggled her sex over his trousers-clad dick eliciting a groan from him.

"You keep that up and I'm carrying you up the jet so we can spend some _quality_ time together."

She giggled and deepened the kiss as her hand slid down his chest, then his abs, and finally stopping at his zippers.

Taco leapt up from the floor as the twitch in his toes started him.

"Maybe not the best idea to have sex in front of him."

…

Her phone vibrated with an incoming message in her pocket. After checking the vital signs of the patient and saw that it was stable, she whipped it out. It was a text from Kate informing her of the surgery schedule.

Just like she had hoped, it was next week.

She smiled, satisfied with the outcome, and returned her focus on the patient and the operation on the table.

After the surgery, she went to the OR board and erased her name from the next operation and put down the name of a resident and Addie Hall.

"I thought you only trust fourth years."

She grinned back at the Chief, watching her reaction closely.

"Hence you're going to supervise."

"Where are you off to?"

"A fundraiser on the other side of the country. If I get to the hanger now I can probably still catch my jet."

…

"Not much of a dancer, Grey?"

Christian sipped from his flute, offering a tight lipped smile to the associate before him. He would be on the dance floor dancing to this very song that was about to begin had she been here.

"How about you? Why aren't you in there getting your feet stomped on?"

The associate chuckled and shook his head. "You should go enjoy yourself."

"I don't dance."

The guy's smile grew larger when his eyes landed on the figure at the entrance, currently drawing the attention from the room.

"You do now," he smirked and nudged toward that very presence.

"Anastasia," he drew in a breath at her and the gown on her. "I told you that you didn't have to come, and I meant it."

"I know," she approached him and took his arm in hers as she guided them to the dance floor just as the song begun, they wrapped their arms around one another and swayed to the slow beat. The name _Mrs Christian Grey_ shown at the entrance of the banquet hall still irritated her.

_When I'm down and oh my soul so weary  
When troubles come and my heart burdened be  
I am still and wait here in the silence  
Until you come and sit awhile with me_

"I chose to."


End file.
